Presented  to 

MR.  CHARLES  L.  HUTCHINSON 

With  Compliments  of 

THE   COMMERCIAL   CLUB 
OF    CHICAGO 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB 
OF  CHICAGO 


THE 

MERCHANTS  CLUB 

of  CHICAGO 


1896-1907 


PRIVATELY   PRINTED   BY   DIRECTION   OF 

THE  COMMERCIAL  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

i,  ii  i'      M 

FOR   DISTRIBUTION   AMONG  ITS 
MEMBERS 


COPTRIGHT,  1922, 

BY 
THE  COMMERCIAL  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 


To  THE  READER-.  IN  CONFIDENCE: 

The  committee  appointed  by  the  Commercial  Club 
of  Chicago  to  prepare  this  History  of  the  Mer- 
chants Club  regrets  its  shortcomings.  The  official 
minutes  of  the  early  meetings  were  brief  and  in- 
adequate. These  have  been  supplemented  by  per- 
sonal recollections  of  some  of  the  members.  The 
committee  extends  sincere  thanks  to  them  for  their 
aid,  especially  to  Mr.  Charles  D.  Norton  and 
Mr.  William  E.  Clow.  Without  their  sugges- 
tions and  advice  this  record  must  have  been  far 
less  complete  than  it  is. 


CONTENTS 

THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB,  I 1 

THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB,  II 5 

BY-LAWS 47 

OFFICERS  AND  COMMITTEES 55 

MEETINGS  AND  SUBJECTS 79 

CHICAGO  CITY  PLAN 95 

FIRST  FAWNERS  SOCIETY 105 

PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 113 

NIGHT  SCHOOLS 123 

NAVAL  TRAINING  STATION 129 

NON-RESIDENTS'  LETTERS      143 

MEMBERSHIP 165 

NECROLOGY                                                                     .  175 


THE  COMMERCIAL  CLUB  ,   179 


APPENDIX  .  .183 


vii  ] 


PORTRAITS 

ARTHUR  MEEKER 5 

DTTNLAP  SMITH 5 

JOHN  V.  FARWELL 57 

H.  GORDON  SELFRIDGE 59 

EDGAR  A.  BANCROFT 61 

HERMON  B.  BUTLER 63 

RICHARD  M.  BISSELL 65 

ALEX.  A.  McCoRMiCK 67 

WALTER  H.  WILSON 69 

ALFRED  M.  BAKER 71 

CHARLES  H.  WACKER      75 

CHARLES  D.  NORTON 77 

DANIEL  H.  BURNHAM      95 

LESLIE  CARTER 105 

THEODORE  W.  ROBINSON 113 

ALLEN  B.  POND 123 

GRAEME  STEWART        129 

RICHARD  BISSELL  AND  CHARLES  NORTON      145 

WILLIAM  KENT 149 

FREDERIC  A.  DELANO      151 

H.  G.  SELFRIDGE  (Cartoon) 155 

EDWARD  D.  KENNA 159 

NELSON  P.  BIGELOW 161 

JAMES  GAMBLE  ROGERS 163 

[ix] 


PORTRAITS 

GROUP  OF  FIVE 164 

CHARLES  H.  HODGES 
JOHN  F.  HARRIS 
CHARLES  R.  CRANE 
JOHN  R.  MORRON 
FRANK  B.  NOTES 


Entrance  Gate,  Great  Lakes 135 

Radio  School,  Great  Lakes      142 

Dinner  Menus facing  pages  10,  42,  43, 44,  78 


[x] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB 
ITS  BIRTH  AND   GROWTH 


[xi] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB 
OF  CHICAGO 

THE  Merchants  Club  of  Chicago,  dating 
from  1896,  had  an  independent  existence 
of  ten  years.  Founded  and  conducted 
avowedly  on  the  same  lines  as  the  Commercial 
Club,  it  was  natural  that  it  should  gravitate  to- 
wards the  older  club  and  become  a  part  of  it.  The 
tendency  of  modern  business  to  combine  in  large 
units  to  make  possible  division  of  labor  and  greater 
efficiency  and  economy  within  the  unit  may  per- 
haps have  hastened  this  union,  but  it  was  bound 
to  occur,  and  in  fact  was  accomplished  in  1907. 
It  is  with  the  busy  life  of  these  intervening  ten 
years  that  this  narrative  is  concerned. 

The  one  outstanding  principle  of  the  Merchants 
Club  that  differed  from  and  was  an  improvement 
upon  the  plan  of  its  prototype  was  in  the  provision 
for  continuing  youth.  Its  basic  law  decreed  that 
no  man  who  had  reached  the  age  of  45  years  was 
eligible  for  election  to  membership,  and  when  he 
reached  50  years  he  ceased  automatically  to  be  an 
active  and  became  an  associate  member.  Thus 
one  in  good  standing  never  lost  membership  and 
interest,  but  the  working  list  was  kept  young. 

The  wisdom  may  be  challenged  of  the  change 
made  several  years  later  to  permit  the  election  of 
older  men  as  associate  members.  There  was  opposi- 

in 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

tion  to  this  at  the  time,  based  on  the  thought  that 
it  might  interfere  with  the  progress  of  the  Club 
and  disturb  its  traditions.  Perhaps  that  was  an 
evidence  of  youth,  the  belief  that  the  Club  had 
built  up  traditions  at  that  stage  of  its  existence. 
Another  quality  of  youth,  though,  was  the  alto- 
gether admirable  energy  and  enthusiasm  of  its 
members  that  encouraged  them  to  discern  and 
attack  civic  evils  and  strive  for  civic  welfare. 

The  Merchants  Club  was  no  place  for  the  "tired 
business  man"  seeking  rest  and  recreation:  its  pace 
was  too  strenuous  for  that,  its  purpose  too  serious. 
To  provide  conditions  under  which  men  might 
dine  together  in  genial  mood  and  discuss  important 
topics  over  the  amenities  of  the  dinner  table,  for 
a  good  dinner  in  good  company  softens  possible 
acerbities  of  temper  in  debate  as  diplomats  have 
found;  to  give  a  man  opportunity  not  alone  to 
accept  or  oppose  his  neighbor's  views,  but  first 
to  understand  them  and  to  express  his  own;  to 
become  posted  on  questions  interesting  to  himself 
in  his  own  environment,  and  on  questions  agitating 
the  world;  to  hear  these  expounded  by  the  best 
thinkers  in  this  community  and  by  profound  think- 
ers from  the  world  over,  by  men  who  had  long 
given  their  minds  to  these  topics — and  then  to 
adapt  the  sum  of  these  judgments  to  the  advan- 
tage of  this  community — such  was  the  real  purpose 
of  the  Commercial  and  the  Merchants  Clubs,  and 
such  purpose  in  some  measure  these  Clubs  have 
accomplished. 

[2] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB   OF  CHICAGO 

The  organization  was  incorporated  as  The  Mer- 
chants Club  of  Chicago.  That  was  the  legal  title, 
but  almost  always  the  identifying  words  of  Chicago 
were  omitted.  During  its  ten  years  of  individual 
existence,  it  held  49  regular  open  meetings,  be- 
sides many  extra  and  closed  meetings  where  only 
members  were  present.  It  formulated  and  dis- 
cussed many  subjects  and  had  a  proud  record  of 
achievement  in  many  matters  for  the  good  of  the 
city  of  our  choice — for  Chicago  was  then  too  young 
to  say  the  city  of  our  birth.  The  minutes  of  these 
meetings,  incomplete  and  at  the  best  but  a  bare 
recital  of  facts  without  illuminating  comments, 
are  not  easily  accessible  to  the  members.  To  many 
of  them  the  tale  of  the  Club's  activities  is  unknown, 
or  at  least  unfamiliar.  Lest  this  record  might  in 
time  be  overlooked  and  forgotten,  the  Commercial 
Club  in  1920  appointed  a  committee  to  make  avail- 
able some  permanent  record  of  these  ten  years  of 
service.  Four  of  the  members  of  this  committee 
had  been  members  of  the  Merchants  Club.  By 
a  searching  of  the  original  minutes  and  of  the  news- 
papers and  other  publications  of  the  time,  rein- 
forced by  the  recollections  of  the  early  members, 
this  record  has  been  produced.  Several  chapters 
that  relate  to  important  phases  of  the  Club's 
efforts  are  from  the  pens  of  men  who  were  the 
most  active  participants  in  those  efforts.  The 
writer  of  the  sketch  that  follows  immediately 
after  this  was  never  connected  with  either  Club, 
which  fact  may  explain  and  make  apology  unneces- 

[3] 


sary  for  anything  that  may  seem  self -laudatory  in 
that  recital. 

The  first  regular  meeting  of  the  Merchants  Club 
was  held  on  Saturday  evening,  February  6,  1897; 
the  last  of  such  meetings  was  on  the  corresponding 
Saturday  evening  of  February,  1907,  almost  exactly 
ten  years  from  the  date  of  the  first.  The  manu- 
script for  this  history  was  completed  for  the 
printer  February  9,  1922,  just  fifteen  years  after 
that  last  meeting.  The  first  two  dates  were  un- 
premeditated: the  last  was  by  intention. 

THE  COMMERCIAL  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

BY  ITS  COMMITTEE  ON 
CLUB  PORTRAITS  AND  HISTORY 


Members  of  Committee 

JOHN  J.   GLESSNER,  Chairman 
ERNEST  A.  HAMMILL 
HUGH  J.  McBiRNEY 
ALLEN  B.  POND 
Louis  A.  SEEBERGER 


[4] 


ARTHUR  MEEKER 

The  Merchants  Club  had  its  origin  in  conferences  of  Arthur 
Meeker  with  Dunlap  Smith  in  the  fall  and  winter  of  1896-7. 


DUNLAP  SMITH 

Died  December,  1901 

Aged  38  years 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB 
OF  CHICAGO 

WAS  intended  as  a  vehicle  of  opportunity  for  a 
group  of  energetic  young  business  men  to  learn 
facts  and  conditions  and  to  interchange  ideas  about 
affairs  of  this  community,  and  to  translate  these 
ideas  into  appropriate  action.  At  its  beginning  the 
average  age  of  its  members  could  not  have  been 
much  above  thirty  years. 

The  origin  of  the  Club  is  not  stated  distinctly 
in  its  minutes  but  is  shown  in  two  letters  of  widely 
differing  dates,  one  each  from  the  two  men  most 
concerned  in  the  preliminaries  of  its  foundation. 
The  first  of  these,  from  Dunlap  Smith  to  the 
Secretary,  Henry  A.  Knott,  is  dated  December 
11,  1896,  at  the  time  when  the  Club  was  formed, 
and  relates 

.  .  .  "that  the  idea  of  the  Club  originated  with 
Mr.  Arthur  Meeker.  He  consulted  with  me  and  we 
had  two  preliminary  meetings,  one  at  the  Chicago 
Club  and  one  at  his  house.  These  were  followed  by  a 
third  preliminary  meeting  at  the  Chicago  Club, 
attended  by  Mr.  H.  B.  Butler  and  yourself.  The  next 
meeting  was  held  at  the  University  Club  on  November 
30th,  the  minutes  of  which  are  enclosed  herewith." 

This  is  all  of  contemporary  record  that  exists 
of  the  birth  of  this  organization,  but  this  organiza- 
tion was  to  be  of  much  moment  to  the  city.  When 

[5] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

young,  active-minded,  matter-of-fact  men  come 
together  animated  by  a  common  purpose,  much 
can  be  accomplished.  To  review  the  list  of  charter 
members  and  recall  what  each  man  has  done  in  his 
own  personal  business  makes  plain  why  this 
organization  became  so  influential,  and  why  it  has 
accomplished  so  much  of  real  practical  value. 
Each  of  these  men  already  was  an  important  factor 
in  some  one  or  more  of  the  city's  greater  business 
enterprises.  Chicago  had  in  fifty  years  gained  a 
position  of  influence  in  the  world  attained  only 
after  many  more  years  in  many  other  cities. 
Chicagoans  are  prone  to  think  that  this  is  because 
of  a  certain  indomitable  Chicago  spirit.  If  that 
thought  is  justified,  then  it  should  be  added  that 
these  were  among  the  men  who  had  that  spirit 
in  large  measure.  They  were 

Aldis,  Owen  F.  Greeley,  Frederick 

Armour,  J.  Ogden  Jones,  David  B. 

Bartlett,  Charles  L.  Kent,  William 

Bigelow,  Nelson  P.  Keyes,  Rollin  A. 

Bissell,  Richard  M.  Kimball,  C.  Fred 

Buckingham,  Clarence  Knott,  Henry  A. 

Butler,  Edward  B.  Meeker,  Arthur 

Butler,  Hermon  B.  Meeker,  George  W. 

Carpenter,  Benjamin  Mitchell,  John  J. 

Coolidge,  Charles  A.  Revell,  Alexander  H. 

Corwith,  Charles  R.  Seeberger,  Louis  A. 

Deering,  James  Selfridge,  Harry  G. 

Ellsworth,  James  W.  Smith,  Byron  L. 

Ewen,  John  M.  Smith,  Dunlap 

Farwell,  John  V.,  Jr.  Strobel,  Charles  L. 

Foreman,  Edwin  G.  Wilson,  Walter  H. 

[6] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

The  second  letter  is  from  Arthur  Meeker  to  the 
Committee  on  History,  under  date  of  April  6, 1921, 
and  contains  some  interesting  details  as  well  as  the 
suggestion  of  a  possible  debt  of  the  Merchants 
to  the  Commercial  Club. 

"I  will  give  you  the  following  facts  from  memory  and 
think  they  are  substantially  correct. 

During  the  winter  1895-6  I  went  to  one  of  the  Com- 
mercial Club  dinners  as  a  guest  of  the  late  Philip  D. 
Armour.  It  occurred  to  me  there  that  there  was  a  field 
in  Chicago  for  a  similar  organization  of  younger  men. 
I  discussed  the  matter  in  an  off-hand  way  with  Dun- 
lap  Smith  in  the  spring  of  1896,  and  again  with  him 
at  my  home  in  June  of  that  year.  We  both  agreed 
that  the  plan  should  be  carried  through.  In  July  we 
arranged  to  dine  one  night  at  the  University  Club 
and  discuss  the  matter  still  further.  ...  In  Septem- 
ber we  had  another  meeting  at  which  the  late  Hermon 
B.  Butler  and  Henry  A.  Knott  were  present.  They 
both  concurred  in  our  ideas;  and  this  was  followed 
by  another  meeting  in  October,  when  I  think  John 
V.  Farwell  and  the  late  Clarence  Buckingham  were 
present.  The  next  meeting  occurred  November  20th, 
1896,  at  the  University  Club,  there  being  twelve  men 
present. 

It  is  my  recollection  that  I  acted  as  temporary 
chairman,  Dunlap  Smith  as  secretary,  that  by-laws 
were  adopted  at  that  meeting,  that  we  incorporated 
about  that  time  at  Springfield,  ....  Mr.  John  V. 
Farwell  was  elected  first  president  of  the  Merchants 
Club.  Since  that  time  I  presume  the  records  of 
the  club  will  indicate  its  progress  and  what  it  has 
accomplished. 

Yours  very  truly, 

ARTHUR  MEEKER." 

[7] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

These  men  of  the  Merchants  Club  were  at  once 
practical  and  idealistic.  Seemingly  engrossed  in 
business,  they  have  been  able  to  take  a  long  look 
ahead,  and  to  plan  not  only  for  their  own  material 
interests,  but  for  the  comfort,  growth,  and  adorn- 
ment of  their  city.  They  loved  Chicago  and  were 
proud  of  it:  they  had  faith  in  it  and  in  themselves, 
and  believed  it  had  the  right  to  command  their 
best  service.  Although  in  the  By-laws  which  the 
Club  adopted  they  stated  their  purpose  simply  as 
that  of  "advancing  business  interests  by  social 
intercourse  of  merchants  and  business  men,  and  a 
free  and  unrestrained  interchange  of  views  upon  all 
business  matters  of  public  interest,"  the  public 
soon  found  that  a  new  interpretation  was  being 
put  on  the  word  "business."  Of  course  his  own 
affairs,  commercial  and  domestic,  were  the  first 
concern  of  each  individual  member,  as  is  the  case 
with  normal  men,  yet  the  last  thing  that  the  Mer- 
chants Club  as  a  club  seemed  to  think  of  was  the 
personal  interest  or  business  of  its  individual 
members.  On  the  other  hand,  what  they  meant 
by  "business  matters  of  public  interest,"  was 
found  to  be  the  application  of  business  principles 
to  the  minutest  detail  of  providing  for  the  comfort 
and  betterment  of  the  poorest,  the  most  illiterate, 
as  well  as  the  rich  and  cultivated;  it  was  found  to 
include  everything  from  cleaning  the  streets  of 
the  city  to  building  up  from  the  lake  more  land  on 
which  future  embellishments  might  rest;  it  was 
found  to  mean  the  doing  for  the  people  of  Chicago 

[8] 


whatever  a  devoted  parent  could  think  of  to  provide 
for  his  family  a  better  and  more  beautiful  place  in 
which  to  pass  their  lives.  These  were  practical  men. 
They  had  ideals,  and  then  applied  their  business 
principles  and  training  in  carrying  these  ideals  out. 

The  formal  adoption  of  the  name  "The  Mer- 
chants Club  of  Chicago"  occurred  at  a  meeting 
held  at  the  University  Club  in  its  building  in 
Dearborn  Street  on  November  30,  1896.  On 
December  10  of  the  same  year  occurred  the  first 
formal  election  of  officers,  resulting  in  the  choice 
of  John  V.  Farwell,  Jr.,  for  President;  Dunlap 
Smith,  Vice-President;  Charles  R.  Corwith,  Treas- 
urer; Henry  A.  Knott,  Secretary.  Mr.  Knott 
resigned  from  office  on  December  18,  and  was 
succeeded  by  Walter  H.  Wilson.  The  first  Ex- 
ecutive Committee  appointed  included  John  V. 
Farwell,  Jr.,  Chairman,  Charles  R.  Corwith, 
Dunlap  Smith,  Harry  G.  Selfridge,  Henry  A. 
Knott,  Clarence  Buckingham,  Walter  H.  Wilson, 
and  Arthur  Meeker. 

Apparently  there  was  never  any  regular  formal 
constitution  for  the  Merchants  Club  of  Chicago. 
Its  fundamental  law  was  included  in  the  more 
flexible  code  of  By-laws.  These  were  modified 
from  time  to  time,  though  not  in  important  par- 
ticulars, the  changes  having  to  do  principally  with 
dates  for  regular  meetings,  amount  of  dues,  pro- 
vision of  fines  for  inattention.  A  further  revision 
of  the  By-laws  was  contemplated  shortly  before 
the  merger  but  not  completed. 


"  THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

Direction  of  the  Club's  affairs  was  imposed  upon 
its  President,  Vice-President,  Treasurer,  Secretary, 
an  Executive  Committee  and  a  Reception  Com- 
mittee, all  to  be  chosen  at  the  annual  meeting. 
Other  necessary  committees  might  be  appointed. 

Membership  was  fixed  at  first  at  40  men,  and 
increased  afterward  to  60  active  members,  with 
associate  members  drawn  only  from  the  active 
list;  but  this  rule  was  changed  after  a  time  so  that 
older  men  might  be  elected  directly  as  associates. 
Membership  was  highly  prized,  and  members  were 
regular  in  attendance  at  meetings  and  attentive 
to  committee  work;  rarely  were  fines  for  inatten- 
tion necessary.  Several  members  resigned  because 
of  removal  from  the  city  or  of  changed  circum- 
stances: one  or  two  were  dropped  for  inattention 
or  for  non-payment  of  dues. 

A  singular  contrast  with  the  present  scale  of 
living  in  several  directions  is  afforded  by  the  fact 
that  the  hour  for  dinners  was  fixed  at  6 :30,  and  the 
price  per  plate  at  $3.25,  including  "wine,  cigars, 
flowers  and  menus,  leaving  a  balance  of  25  cents 
from  the  price  of  each  plate  for  extras."  At  later 
dinners  they  cut  this  cost  per  plate  down  to  $3.00, 
and  yet  the  diners  were  not  suffering  privation,  to 
judge  from  some  of  the  menus  arranged  by  the 
committee  on  menus, — a  one-man  committee, — 
Arthur  Meeker.  This  charge  for  dinners  was 
changed  afterwards  to  $60.00  per  year. 

Regular  meetings  were  to  be  held  on  the  first 
Saturday  evening  of  each  month,  November  to 

[10] 


FIRST  FORMAL  DINNER  OF  THE   MERCHANTS 
CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

FEBRUARY  6,  1897 


€>/'  ^lan 

~/cta/o<>y 

m'  o/'  dsee/,  tia 

,  /a 


jauternf 

V/art' 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

April  inclusive:  afterwards  changed  to  the  second 
Saturday,  to  avoid  conflict  with  other  clubs. 

The  annual  meeting  and  election  was  in  April, 
at  the  close  of  which  the  old  administration  with- 
drew and  the  one  newly  elected  assumed  direction 
of  the  Club  and  its  affairs. 

Regular  open  meetings  were  held  at  the  impor- 
tant hotels  of  the  time,  generally  at  the  Auditorium 
or  the  Grand  Pacific.  Closed  meetings,  and 
dinners  for  members  only,  might  be  at  one  of  the 
clubs. 

Frequently  local  ministers  were  invited  to 
public  meetings,  but  there  was  no  rule  requiring 
their  ministrations.  Also  many  times  there  was 
music  during  the  dinner  by  a  small  band,  but  there 
was  no  rule  for  that. 

Several  times  meetings  were  omitted  or  ad- 
journed because  of  the  death  or  bereavement  of  a 
member  or  the  death  of  some  prominent  citizen. 

The  first  regular  meeting  open  to  members  and 
guests  was  held  at  the  Auditorium  hotel  on  the 
evening  of  Saturday,  February  6,  1897.  No 
record  has  been  found  of  the  number  in  attend- 
ance. "The  Needs  of  a  Great  City,"  the  topic 
for  discussion  at  this  first  official  dinner,  was  in 
a  sense  indicative  of  the  Club's  attitude,  which 
was  never  "What  can  we  get?"  but  "What  can 
we  give?"  There  was  little  sentimentality  in  the 
way  they  went  about  it.  In  order  to  ascertain 
the  "Needs,"  they  had  Washington  Hesing,  an 
aspirant  for  the  mayoralty,  set  them  forth,  and  he, 


nothing  loath,  compared  Chicago  to  Constanti- 
nople under  the  government  of  the  Sultan  of 
Turkey,  in  point  of  uncleanliness,  physical,  moral 
and  political.  To  be  perfectly  fair,  but  also  to 
bait  rival  candidates  one  against  another,  His 
Honor  Mayor  Swift  was  allowed  to  take  the  side 
of  the  administration,  and  it  is  beyond  doubt  that 
he  lauded  his  own  performance  as  Mayor.  Mr. 
Glessner,  representing  the  Commercial  Club, 
brought  a  message  of  good  will  from  that  body  and 
the  hope  that  the  two  clubs  might  cooperate  in 
all  good  works,  and  D.  H.  Burnham,  the  archi- 
tect-in-chief  of  the  World's  Fair,  in  his  benign, 
big-hearted  way  helped  them  to  see  how,  by 
planning  large  enough,  they  could  secure  hearty 
cooperation  from  the  city  that  they  sought  to 
serve. 

To  begin  with  first  principles,  the  Merchants 
Club  on  March  7,  1897,  discussed  "The  Primary 
Election  Law,"  and  passed  resolutions  heartily 
endorsing  "all  provisions  of  the  bill  now  before 
the  State  Legislature  which  we  believe  will  give 
equality  to  all,  etc.  and  respectfully  urge  our  hon- 
orable representatives  at  Springfield  to  press  the 
passage  of  this  bill  in  its  entirety."  This  bill  was 
passed,  and  we  find  this  minute  in  the  Club  records : 
"While  we  cannot  truthfully  claim  that  our  Club 
passed  that  law,  we  can  rightfully  assume  that  we 
were  one  of  the  main  important  factors  in  crystal- 
lizing that  public  sentiment  which  finally  demanded 
and  obtained  its  passage." 

[12] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

The  first  steps  leading  to  the  achievement  of  a 
great  result  are  always  worthy  of  note.  As  the 
French  say,  "It  is  the  first  step  that  costs." 
The  Chicago  Plan  work  of  the  Club  began  in  this 
way.  On  the  llth  of  April,  1897,  the  Executive 
Committee  of  the  Merchants  Club  was  empowered 
to  see  Mr.  J.  W.  Ellsworth,  chairman  of  the 
Board  of  South  Park  Commissioners,  and  ascer- 
tain his  opinion  of  the  prospect  of  erecting  an 
Exposition  Building  on  the  Lake  Front.  The 
Executive  Committee,  Messrs.  Meeker,  Bucking- 
ham and  Selfridge,  waited  upon  Mr.  Ellsworth 
the  following  day,  and  after  conference  with  him 
decided  to  visit  Mr.  Burnham  at  his  office  in  the 
Rookery  building.  The  result  was  that  the  plan 
for  a  single  large  permanent  Exposition  Building 
on  the  Lake  Front  was  abandoned,  and  the  broad- 
er question,  "What  can  be  done  to  make  Chicago 
more  attractive?"  was  scheduled  for  the  next 
meeting  of  the  Club,  on  April  3rd. 

At  that  meeting  Burnham,  dreamer  and  planner 
and  builder  all  in  one,  seized  the  opportunity  to 
present  to  his  audience  in  a  perspective  landscape 
painting,  a  bird's  eye  view  of  Chicago  from  Fifty- 
first  street  to  Grant  Park,  showing  a  park  from 
300  to  700  feet  in  width  to  be  built  along  the  lake 
shore  to  the  east  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad 
from  Jackson  Park  to  12th  street,  and  another 
park  to  be  built  out  in  the  lake  as  an  island  about 
six  miles  in  length.  The  lagoon  formed  by  these 
two  parks  varied  in  width,  and  a  dozen  or  more 

[13] 


bridges  of  graceful  design  were  to  connect  the  island 
with  the  main  land.  It. was  the  first  glimpse  of  the 
Lake  Front  Park  as  it  was  planned  to  be. 

Far  from  considering  this  an  idle  vision,  the 
next  speaker  on  the  program,  Ferdinand  Peck — 
destined  in  1900  to  be  United  States  Commis- 
sioner-General to  the  Paris  Exposition — pro- 
nounced it  "entirely  feasible"  from  a  financial 
viewpoint,  and  Mr.  Selfridge,  who  has  since  shown 
London  what  a  Chicago  merchant  can  accomplish, 
reported  himself  as  "enthusiastically  in  favor  of 
the  scheme,"  saying  that  it  was  "an  opportunity 
for  making  Chicago  the  most  remarkable  city  of 
the  world,  and  which  it  would  be  the  height  of 
folly  to  neglect." 

The  project  of  "The  Lake  Front  Park"  was 
endorsed  in  executive  session  on  April  12,  1902, 
and  was  again  made  the  subject  of  discussion 
before  the  Merchants  Club  at  its  dinner  in  the 
Auditorium  on  February  14,  1903,  when  the 
speakers  were  Daniel  H.  Burnham,  John  H.  Ham- 
line,  Bryan  Lathrop,  and  Daniel  F.  Crilly — the 
two  latter  being  Park  Commissioners,  the  one  of 
Lincoln,  the  other  of  the  South  Parks. 

That  the  importance  of  the  subject  was  realized 
is  indicated  by  the  fullness  of  the  Club  minutes. 
Much  enthusiasm  was  manifested,  and  it  was  the 
unanimous  wish  "that  the  Club  should  actively 
support  this  important  move  toward  the  beautify- 
ing of  our  city" —to  quote  from  the  minutes. 
Alexander  McCormick  was  president  at  this  time, 

[141 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

but  being  temporarily  absent  from  the  city,  the 
Vice-President  was  instructed  on  February  17, 
1903,  to  name  a  committee  of  "proper  persons" 
to  arrange  for  the  preparation  of  the  Lake  Front 
Park  bill,  and  its  presentation  to  the  Legislature 
at  Springfield.  The  bill  involved  the  dedication 
of  the  land  under  the  lake  to  this  purpose,  and  the 
project  necessitated  the  building  of  breakwaters 
and  the  dumping  of  the  city's  refuse  and  excava- 
tions in  certain  marked  locations  along  the  sub- 
merged shore  to  form  new  land  with  an  elevation 
of  seven  feet  above  the  water's  surface.  John  H. 
Hamline  Esq.  drafted  the  bill,  and  with  the  well- 
directed  untiring  efforts  of  Graeme  Stewart  and  the 
active  cooperation  of  the  Merchants  Club  it  was 
passed.  Grant  Park,  consisting  of  150  acres  along 
the  Lake  Front,  was  filled  in  at  practically  no 
expense,  during  a  period  of  six  years,  and  is  now 
the  site  of  one  of  the  largest  marble  buildings 
in  the  world — the  magnificent  new  Field  Museum. 
The  Chicago  Plan,  as  it  developed  in  all  its 
fullness,  involved  the  widening  of  Michigan  boule- 
vard, the  widening  of  12th  street,  or  Roosevelt 
road,  the  creation  of  other  boulevards  and  the 
connecting  of  the  park  systems  of  the  North, 
South,  and  West  sides  by  a  network  of  boulevards, 
as  well  as  the  re-arrangement  of  railroad  terminals 
to  facilitate  traffic  without  congesting  the  streets 
or  defacing  the  city,  etc.,  etc.  As  all  of  these 
projects  began  to  seem  feasible  of  accomplishment, 
it  was  found  that  funds  must  be  provided  to  cover 

[15] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

expense  of  maintaining  headquarters  for  the  work, 
and  for  the  employment  of  engineers  and  assistants 
to  Mr.  Burnham,  but  Mr.  Burnham  contributed  his 
own  invaluable  services,  and  gave  of  his  funds 
besides.  In  a  report  read  before  the  Commercial 
Club  on  January  25,  1908,  Charles  D.  Norton, 
Secretary  of  the  Merchants  Club  from  April,  1904, 
to  May,  1906,  and  its  President  in  1907,  stated 
concerning  the  Chicago  Plan,  that  the  Merchants 
Club  first  guaranteed  the  sum  necessary  for  these 
expenses,  and  then  "raised  thirty  thousand  dollars 
in  small  subscriptions  from  nearly  four  hundred 
persons  in  and  out  of  the  Merchants  Club  and  the 
Commercial  Club."  On  May  5,  1905,  Mr.  Charles 
Wacker,  now  the  head  of  the  Chicago  Plan  Com- 
mission, was  elected  President  of  the  Merchants 
Club.  In  a  very  real  sense,  therefore,  may  the 
Merchants  Club  be  called  the  prime  mover  in  the 
initiation  and  furtherance  of  the  Chicago  Plan. 

The  conception  of  the  scheme,  of  course,  was 
Burnham's.  He  presented  and  explained  it  to 
Clubs,  to  individuals,  and  to  many  public  and 
semi-public  bodies.  Men  talked  about  it,  nearly 
all  conceded  its  beauty,  as  a  dream  has  beauty, 
many  thought  it  might  be  possible  of  accomplish- 
ment if  others  would  make  it  so.  The  conditions 
were  much  as  Mark  Twain  found  them  about  the 
weather — everybody  talked  about  it  but  nobody 
did  anything — that  is,  not  until  the  Merchants 
Club  took  it  up.  The  Club  held  many  meetings 
over  it,  public  and  private,  and  worked  up  a  spirit 

[16] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

of  helpfulness  that  gave  the  work  its  start.  Then 
other  organizations  aided,  until  to  aid  the  plan 
became  the  thing.  And  now  we  begin  to  see  its 
beauties  and  its  practical  utility.  Again,  the 
conception  of  the  scheme,  of  course,  was  Burnham's 
— the  aid  and  encouragement  came  in  largest 
measure  from  the  Merchants  Club.  Indeed  the 
greatest  work  undertaken  by  the  Merchants  Club 
was  for  the  Chicago  Plan,  and  it  was  the  most 
continuing. 

In  his  latter  years,  Charles  Eliot  Norton,  Har- 
vard University's  great  professor  of  the  History  of 
the  Fine  Arts,  "held  a  warm  belief  in  the  destiny 
the  West  was  carving  for  itself,"  writes  his  daughter 
"through  its  energy  and  high  civic  purpose,  which 
men  like  Mr.  Burnham  embodied."  To  this 
Chicago  Plan  Mr.  Burnham  not  only  gave  his 
time,  his  thought,  his  ability,  his  money,  but  more 
than  these,  his  enthusiasm,  all  without  any  com- 
pensation whatever.  He  felt  he  had  the  unbound- 
ed, unfailing,  ungrudging  support  of  the  Merchants 
Club  and  of  the  citizens  generally,  but  especially 
of  the  Merchants  Club.  What  he  thought  of  this 
and  of  the  men  who  composed  that  Club  committee 
is  told  by  his  biographer  Charles  Moore  in  better 
words  and  to  greater  extent  than  can  be  done  here. 

He  spoke  in  praise  of  their  altruism,  of  their 
understanding  of  the  needs  of  the  city,  and  of 
their  efforts  to  supply  these  needs.  He  character- 
ized Charles  D.  Norton  as  a  man  of  the  highest 
ideals  and  of  unusual  ability,  eager  to  do  for  the 

[17] 


public  a  great  service;  he  spoke  of  Charles  H. 
Thome  as  the  embodiment  of  simplicity  and 
quiet  power;  of  Joy  Morton's  forceful  influence, 
felt  as  soon  as  he  entered  the  room;  of  Edward  B. 
Butler's  constant  and  faithful  support  of  the  Plan ; 
of  Frederick  A.  Delano  as  a  prince  among  men. 
He  keenly  appreciated  having  Clyde  M.  Carr  on 
the  committee,  and  that  he  should  direct  his  great 
business  acumen  to  the  work  of  the  City  Plan. 

With  active  and  whole-hearted  support  from 
such  men,  Mr.  Burnham  felt  his  task  was  light. 
And  so  the  work  went  on  rapidly  and  thoroughly 
until  the  union  of  the  two  clubs.  After  that  union 
the  Commercial  Club  retained  the  old  committee, 
several  of  whose  members  had  belonged  to  both 
clubs,  and  continued  the  work.  And  the  City 
Council  adopted  the  Plan  November  1,  1909, 
when  it  authorized  the  appointment  of  the  Chicago 
Plan  Commission,  with  Charles  H.  Wacker  as  its 
head  and  made  up  partly  of  city  officials  and  partly 
of  other  citizens,  and  also  passed  ordinances  for 
improving  Michigan  avenue  and  Roosevelt  road 
(12th  street)  in  accordance  with  the  Plan. 

Not  all  the  efforts  of  the  Merchants  Club  were 
so  decorative  in  outward  effect  as  those  connected 
with  the  Chicago  Plan.  Some  of  them  were  quite 
otherwise,  though  intensely  practical,  as,  for 
instance,  the  movement  to  establish  a  Municipal 
Pawnshop,  which  the  Club  inaugurated  and 
carried  through.  No  law  existed  in  Illinois  em- 
powering a  municipality  to  do  anything  of  the 

[18] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

sort,  consequently  the  Merchants  Club  had  to  set 
about  getting  such  a  law  passed.  The  initial 
resolution  on  the  subject  was  introduced  by 
Alexander  H.  Revell  at  the  Club's  tenth  meeting, 
April  8,  1898,  covering  the  drafting  of  the  bill. 
The  bill  was  drawn  by  Leslie  Carter,  one  of  the 
members  of  the  Club.  The  topic  for  discussion  at 
the  meeting  of  January  14,  1899,  was  "Provident 
Fawners'  Societies,"  and  a  resolution  was  intro- 
duced and  unanimously  adopted,  providing  that 

"WHEREAS,  In  the  judgment  of  the  Merchants  Club 
of  Chicago,  the  establishment  of  a  Provident  Pawners' 
Society,  for  lending  small  sums  of  money  on  goods  and 
chattels  at  a  fair  and  moderate  rate  of  interest,  is  de- 
sirable, and 

"WHEREAS,  The  laws  of  Illinois  do  not  permit  the 
incorporation  of  societies  or  companies  for  such  purposes, 

"RESOLVED,  That  the  President  of  the  Merchants 
Club  be  directed  to  appoint  a  committee  of  five  persons 
to  take  charge  of  and  present  to  the  State  of  Illinois 
a  bill  which  will  authorize  the  formation  of  such  cor- 
porations." 

The  Committee  was  appointed,  visited  Spring- 
field in  the  interest  of  the  project,  and  the  law  was 
passed.  On  November  6  of  the  same  year,  the 
Associated  Press  came  out  in  Chicago  with  this 
statement  that  was  telegraphed  all  over  the 
country  and  reprinted  in  scores  of  newspapers: 

"A  municipal  pawnshop,  operating  under  a  law 
passed  by  the  Legislature,  was  opened  here  today,  and, 
judging  from  the  number  of  applications  for  loans,  will 
be  a  success.  The  institution  is  operated  under  a  State 

[19] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

charter,  and  lends  money  at  1  per  cent  a  month  instead 
of  the  customary  5  or  10  per  cent,  and  upwards,  charged 
by  pawnbrokers.  The  first  and  chief  object  of  the 
society,  as  announced,  is  to  protect  poor  people  who 
borrow  money  on  small  chattels.  The  president  of  the 
society  is  J.  V.  Farwell,  Jr." 

The  object  had  been  successfully  accomplished, 
and  Chicago  afforded  the  world  the  unique  spec- 
tacle of  gentlemen  of  the  highest  social  and  busi- 
ness standing  conducting  with  clean  hands  and  in 
the  spirit  of  pure  human  brotherhood  what 
generally  had  been  looked  upon  as  a  sordid,  con- 
temptible business,  often  conducted  in  a  heartless, 
oppressive  manner,  sometimes  even  criminally 
trading  on  the  necessities  of  the  poor.  In  the  Club 
archives  is  a  scrapbook  of  clippings  showing  what 
a  surprising  interest  the  world  took  in  these  un- 
selfish efforts  of  high  minded  men  to  help  humble 
folk.  Something  of  the  scope  of  the  work  is  ex- 
plained in  a  subsequent  chapter. 

Similar  in  intent  was  the  move  on  the  part  of 
the  Merchants  Club  for  the  establishment  of  mu- 
nicipal lodging  houses,  of  "Mills  Hotels"  in 
Chicago,  which  came  in  the  years  1899  to  1901. 

"Small  Parks  and  Playgrounds"  became  the 
subject  of  discussion  by  the  Merchants  Club  on  the 
occasion  of  the  initial  dinner  under  the  presidency 
of  Edgar  A.  Bancroft,  November  11,  1899.  Fol- 
lowing its  usual  thorough-going  custom,  the  Club 
had  invited  the  author  of  "How  the  Other  Half 
Lives"  to  address  this  meeting — Mr.  Jacob  A. 

[20] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF   CHICAGO 

Riis,  of  New  York.  Richard  M.  Bissell,  Benjamin 
S.  Terry  and  Alderman  Robert  K.  Griffith  were 
also  on  the  program.  Mr.  Riis  and  Mr.  Bissell 
illustrated  their  remarks  with  stereopticon  views 
of  New  York  and  Chicago  conditions  in  the  con- 
gested regions.  Twenty-two  members  of  the  City 
Council  were  present.  All  responded  to  the 
authoritative  statement  made  by  Mr.  Riis  that 
"  For  every  slum  block  you  tear  down  to  make  room 
for  a  playground  you  let  the  sunshine  into  the 
souls  of  10,000  children  who,  in  the  next  generation, 
will  pull  this  great  city  out  of  the  mire." 

The  ultimate  outcome  of  that  meeting  was  the 
establishment  of  a  Special  Park  Commission 
under  the  city  administration,  empowered  to 
carry  on  park  and  playground  extension  work. 
An  annual  gift  of  $100  from  the  Merchants  Club 
was  used  in  providing  prizes  for  the  competitive 
playground  work  among  the  boys  and  girls. 

Closely  akin  to  the  above  was  the  Club's  work 
for  the  greater  use  of  school  buildings  for  social 
and  recreative  purposes  in  the  evenings.  In  the 
Executive  Committee  meeting  of  July  5,  1900, 
Messrs.  Cooley,  Lewis  and  Hannan  of  the  Board 
of  Education  were  present  by  invitation,  and  Mr. 
Cooley,  Chicago's  Superintendent  of  Schools, 
stated  his  experience  in  this  direction.  Mr. 
Cooley  addressed  the  closed  meeting  of  April  12, 
1902,  and  the  result  was  a  resolution  of  the  Mer- 
chants Club  endorsing  the  work  of  the  Educational 
Committee  and  pledging  its  continued  support 

[21] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

toward  obtaining  a  larger  use  of  public  school 
buildings  for  the  betterment  of  the  neighborhoods 
in  which  they  are  located,  as  well  as  advocating 
the  expenditure  of  a  portion  of  the  public  funds  for 
the  purpose  of  rendering  such  usage  possible. 
The  value  of  this  work,  not  only  to  those  who 
benefited  directly,  but  to  the  community  at  large, 
because  of  its  aid  in  Americanization,  has  long 
since  been  demonstrated.  It  is  a  return  to  "the 
little  red  schoolhouse"  as  a  community  center 
which  has  been  such  a  safeguard  to  the  nation  in 
the  case  of  rural  communities,  and  which  is  doubly 
needed  in  the  rapidly  increasing  foreign  settle- 
ments within  the  wide  boundaries  of  all  great 
cities  and  especially  of  Chicago. 

The  phrase  "Greater  Chicago"  came  into  com- 
mon use  in  the  years  1898  and  1899,  in  connection 
with  the  effort  of  the  Merchants  Club  and  others 
to  secure  consolidation  of  the  taxing  bodies  within 
the  city,  so  that  one  municipal  government  should 
perform  the  functions  of  the  city,  county,  and 
various  small  town  governments.  A  special  meet- 
ing of  the  Club,  led  by  Judge  John  Barton  Payne, 
was  held  on  March  11,  1899,  to  discuss  this  sub- 
ject, and  individual  members  appeared  in  con- 
ference with  the  Citizens'  Committee  of  100, 
among  others,  Mr.  John  P.  Wilson,  speaking  on 
the  legal  aspects  of  the  matter,  and  Louis  A.  See- 
berger  on  the  real  estate  interests  involved. 

This  was  the  time  when  the  papers  all  over  the 
country  were  full  of  direful  predictions  to  the 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

effect  that,  whereas  Chicago  already  covered  184 
square  miles,  it  would  soon  be  increased  to  400 
square  miles,  and  include  "prairie,  corn-fields, 
forests,  and  frog-ponds,  while  every  living  thing 
would  be  included  in  the  census,  bringing  the 
total  up  to  5,000,000,  and  ending  with  the  annexa- 
tion of  Illinois." 

All  the  objects  sought  to  be  accomplished  by  the 
bill  which  was  presented  to  the  State  Legislature 
at  that  time  have  not  yet  been  attained,  but 
Chicago  did  gain  considerable  territory  from  out- 
lying towns,  simplifying,  to  some  extent,  public 
improvements  of  general  interest,  such  as  the 
extension  of  roads  beyond  the  former  city  limits, 
and  leading  to  a  more  concerted  action  between 
city  and  county  in  such  matters  as  the  Forest 
Preserve,  when,  in  the  course  of  time,  that  move- 
ment arose.  The  work  on  the  proposed  new  charter 
was  put  into  the  hands  of  a  Charter  Revenue 
committee  of  the  Merchants  Club,  and  much 
preliminary  work  done,  and  many  obstacles  in 
the  way  were  removed  by  this  committee,  working 
in  conjunction  with  the  Commercial  Club,  the 
Civic  Federation,  the  various  park  boards  and 
taxing  bodies. 

The  establishment  of  the  United  States  Naval 
Training  Station  at  Lake  Bluff,  which  has  since 
proved  of  not  only  national  but  international 
importance,  came  about  largely  through  the 
instrumentality  of  the  Merchants  Club  of  Chicago. 
The  matter  was  first  presented  at  a  meeting  of  the 

[23] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

Executive  Committee  at  the  Union  League  Club 
on  October  23,  1903.  On  October  27,  the  subject 
was  discussed,  and  again  on  October  29,  in  execu- 
tive session,  George  E.  Foss,  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Naval  Affairs  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  being  the  principal  speaker. 

As  a  result  of  these  meetings,  a  special  meeting 
was  held  in  honor  of  Secretary  of  the  Navy 
Paul  Morton,  on  July  14,  1904,  at  the  Chicago 
Club,  at  which  150  members  and  guests  were 
present.  The  speakers  were  Shelby  M.  Cullom, 
United  States  Senator,  George  E.  Foss,  Chairman 
of  the  House  Committee  on  Naval  Affairs,  Joseph 
G.  Cannon,  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, and  Edward  D.  Kenna,  with  Secretary  Paul 
Morton  in  the  closing  speech  of  response.  Action 
was  taken  by  the  Club  at  a  meeting  of  the  Exe- 
cutive Committee  held  at  Kinsley's  on  July  19, 
1904,  by  which  a  committee  was  appointed  with 
the  right  to  increase  its  own  membership,  "for 
the  purpose  of  doing  everything  in  its  power  to 
secure  the  placing  of  the  United  States  Naval 
Station  in  Illinois  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Michigan 
north  of  Chicago."  President  Baker  appointed  on 
this  committee  Graeme  Stewart,  chairman,  John 
R.  Morron,  Fred  W.  Upham,  and  Harold  F.  Mc- 
Cormick. 

At  an  executive  meeting  on  July  21,  this  com- 
mittee was  increased  by  the  addition  of  President 
Alfred  L.  Baker,  ex  qfficio.  A  letter  was  written  on 
this  date  to  the  President  and  Executive  Com- 

[24] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

mittee  of  the  Commercial  Club,  inviting  them  to 
appoint  a  committee  of  equal  number,  "so  that 
the  undertaking  may  be  a  joint  enterprise,"  and 
adding  that  "the  Commission  appointed  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States  is  now  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  Great  Lakes  to  decide  on  a 
location;  therefore  it  becomes  necessary  .  .  .  that 
this  joint  committee  be  at  once  organized  for 
work." 

On  the  following  day,  the  Executive  Committee 
of  the  Commercial  Club  met  and  accepted  the 
invitation  of  the  Merchants  Club,  advising  of 
their  action,  and  of  the  appointment  of  William  L. 
Brown,  James  H.  Eckles,  Louis  F.  Swift,  Charles 
H.  Wacker,  and  the  President,  J.  Harley  Bradley, 
ex  officio,  as  their  representatives. 

Graeme  Stewart  of  the  Merchants  Club  was 
chairman  of  this  joint  committee.  On  August  30, 
at  a  meeting  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the 
Merchants  Club,  there  came  a  telephone  message 
from  Graeme  Stewart  that  he  had  "secured  a 
strictly  confidential  offer  of  the  Downey  tract  (for 
the  purpose  of  the  naval  site  only)  for  $80,000,  and 
that  he  proposed  to  tender  the  land  to  the  Naval 
Committee,  which  is  to  be  in  Chicago  today  for 
that  purpose."  By  November  16,  $60,000  of  the 
$80,000  required  to  buy  this  tract  had  been  secured. 
The  Downey  tract  contained  120  acres.  To  this 
was  added  the  Murphy  tract  of  52  acres,  making 
172  acres  in  all,  valued  at  $172,000,  which  was 
collected  from  about  50  persons. 

[25] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

Fifty -eight  tracts  in  different  places  were  before 
the  committee  appointed  by  President  Roosevelt 
to  decide  on  a  site  for  the  training  station.  Ad- 
vocates of  these  different  sites  were  droning  away 
before  the  committee,  which  was  patiently  listen- 
ing to  their  long-winded  discourses  on  November 
21,  1904,  when  Graeme  Stewart,  representing  the 
Merchants  Club  of  Chicago  and  the  Commercial 
Club,  appeared  before  the  Committee,  and  in  a 
speech  which  is  said  to  have  lasted  but  two  or  three 
minutes  offered  to  give  the  whole  splendid  tract 
at  Lake  Bluff  to  the  Government,  in  order  to  secure 
the  location  of  the  station  near  Chicago. 

On  November  24,  1904,  word  came  from  Wash- 
ington that  the  government  had  decided  to  accept 
the  offer  of  the  Lake  Bluff  site.  By  June  27,  1905, 
the  Merchants  Club  was  appointing  a  committee 
to  take  charge  of  matters  pertaining  to  the  laying 
of  the  corner-stone  of  the  principal  building  when, 
on  the  same  day,  it  became  necessary  to  appoint 
a  place  of  meeting  preparatory  to  attending  in  a 
body  the  funeral  of  Graeme  Stewart.  The  Great 
Lakes  Naval  Training  Station  may  be  said  to  be 
his  memorial. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century, 
Chicago,  whose  existence  as  a  city  extended  over 
less  than  the  three  score  years  and  ten  allotted  to 
man  by  the  Psalmist,  had  not  had  time  to  attend 
to  all  details  of  personal  nicety  in  the  manner  that 
might  be  expected  of  a  city  that  had  longer  experi- 
ence. With  plans  for  a  beautiful  city  in  mind, 

[26] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

however,  it  behooved  her  to  begin  with  funda- 
mentals and  see  that  the  streets  in  the  business 
center  at  least  were  decently  cleaned.  Neglect  on 
the  part  of  those  whose  legal  duty  it  was  to  attend 
to  the  city's  needs  in  this  respect,  led  to  a  deter- 
mined move  on  the  part  of  her  true  and  loyal 
friends  to  render  this  humble  service.  On  April 
8,  1904,  David  R.  Forgan,  Harry  G.  Selfridge, 
Alexander  H.  Revell,  John  R.  Morron,  and  Frank 
H.  Armstrong  of  the  Merchants  Club  were  ap- 
pointed a  Street  Cleaning  committee,  to  cooperate 
with  the  Commercial  Club  committee  for  the 
same  purpose. 

The  Commercial  Club,  the  elder  body  of  the 
two,  had  invited  this  cooperation,  and  on  its  part 
appointed  on  the  Street  Cleaning  Committee  John 
G.  Shedd,  Charles  H.  Wacker,  John  V.  Farwell, 
Joy  Morton  and  Benjamin  Carpenter.  Each  club 
pledged  itself  to  give  to  the  extent  of  $5,000  if  so 
much  were  necessary,  providing  that  the  total 
cost  of  the  work  did  not  exceed  $10,000.  The 
fiftieth  regular  meeting  of  the  Merchants  Club 
came  on  March  18,  1905,  at  the  Auditorium 
hotel,  and  was  in  reality  a  joint  meeting  with  the 
Commercial  Club  to  discuss  the  subject  "Street 
Paving  and  Street  Cleaning."  The  speakers  were 
John  A.  Alvord,  Civil  Engineer,  Richard  T.  Fox, 
Charles  H.  Wacker  and  Prof.  Albion  W.  Small. 

Joy  Morton  was  appointed  chairman  of  the 
joint  Street  Cleaning  Committee  of  the  two  clubs. 
The  territory  staked  out  by  this  committee  was 

[27] 


THE  MERCHANTS   CLUB   OF  CHICAGO 

the  loop  district.  In  a  body  the  committee  called 
on  Mayor  Harrison,  and  told  him  that  they  pro- 
posed to  keep  this  part  of  the  city  clean — very 
clean — for  one  year,  as  an  object  lesson.  The 
Mayor  agreed  to  turn  over  to  them  the  funds  the 
city  intended  to  apply  to  this  district  for  that 
period,  and  to  give  them  the  contract.  Of  course 
they  had  to  be  incorporated  in  order  to  take  such 
a  contract,  and  accordingly  this  was  done,  and  the 
work  begun,  in  the  name  of  The  Citizens'  Street 
Cleaning  Bureau,  Inc.  Before  the  Bureau  took 
charge  June  1,  1905,  this  committee,  combined 
with  similar  committees  of  other  Clubs,  had  ex- 
pended more  than  $66,000  on  the  work. 

Richard  T.  Fox,  an  eastern  expert  in  street- 
cleaning  methods,  was  appointed  active  super- 
intendent; an  office  was  fitted  up,  and  men  were 
employed  as  sweepers.  To  make  them  more  con- 
spicuous, these  latter  were  uniformed  in  white, 
and  were  soon  dubbed  "White  Wings."  Nothing 
that  ever  happened  in  Chicago  had  created  greater 
enthusiasm.  Inspired  paragraphs  poured  from  the 
pens  of  newspaper  writers,  enough  to  fill  a  portly 
book  of  clippings;  and  as  for  the  cartoonists — 
with  a  great  Scottish  chief  of  Chicago  finance  and 
a  great  merchant  chief  of  Chicago  trade  (of  New 
England  extraction)  in  full  panoply  of  white  wings, 
with  brooms  rampant,  mops  couchant,  scrubbing 
the  streets  to  make  a  "Spotless  Town" — truly  the 
daily  newspaper  cartoonist  found  his  ways  were 
ways  of  pleasantness  and  all  his  paths  were  peace. 

[28] 


THE   MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

The  effect  upon  Chicago  was  electrical.  All  over 
the  city  associations  were  formed  to  keep  the  city 
streets  immaculate.  Women's  Clubs  and  Children's 
Brigades  joined  in  the  crusade.  As  for  the  mer- 
chants of  State  street,  they  were  not  to  be  satisfied 
with  merely  keeping  the  street  clean,  they  wanted  to 
make  it  a  model  street,  and  formed  the  State  Street 
Improvement  Association.  So  impressed  were  the 
ordinary  street  sweepers  that  they  vied  with  the 
"white  wings"  on  streets  that  came  in  contact  with 
those  of  the  joint  committee  streets,  in  keeping 
them  cleaner  than  they  had  ever  been  before. 

At  the  end  of  the  year  for  which  they  had  con- 
tracted, it  was  generally  agreed  that  "The  Citizens' 
Street-Cleaning  Bureau"  not  only  had  made  good 
on  its  promise  and  kept  the  loop  streets  clean,  but 
had  created  such  a  sentiment  among  the  people 
that  they  would  not  again  put  up  with  former 
conditions.  In  an  editorial  of  June  7,  1905,  under 
the  caption  Cleanliness  that  Pays,  it  was  asserted 
that  "An  experimental  year  of  downtown  street 
cleaning  by  private  enterprise  had  proven  so 
successful  that  the  members  of  the  Commercial  and 
Merchants  Clubs,  who  were  instrumental  in  start- 
ing the  movement,  may  take  credit  to  themselves 
as  great  public  educators."  For  the  next  year,  sub- 
scriptions amounting  to  about  $2,500  a  month  were 
added  to  the  $2,000  a  month  contributed  from  the 
city  treasury.  Chicago,  having  once  enjoyed  the 
luxury  of  clean  streets  in  the  down-town  district, 
resolved  that  they  should  be  kept  clean. 

[29] 


While  attending  to  what  its  By-laws  called 
"business  matters  of  public  interest,"  the  Mer- 
chants Club  of  Chicago  decided  to  include  in  these 
duties  the  investigation  of,  and  the  practical 
application  of  business  principles  to  the  subjects 
taught  in  the  public  schools  of  the  city.  From  the 
viewpoint  of  business  men,  commercial  and  manual 
training  had  been  overlooked  to  a  large  extent 
in  the  schools  of  Chicago,  not  from  want  of  desire 
or  from  inefficiency  on  the  part  of  the  school 
authorities,  but  largely  because  of  insufficient 
funds,  accompanied  perhaps  by  a  general  lack  of 
information  on  the  part  of  the  public  on  this  par- 
ticular subject. 

The  discussion  at  the  regular  meeting  of  February 
9,  1901,  was  on  "Commercial  High  Schools." 
Professor  Jeremiah  Jenks  of  Cornell  University 
had  come  on  to  address  the  meeting.  He  said  in 
part:  "The  schools  of  the  present  do  nothing  to 
develop  the  skill  of  the  hand  of  the  worker.  They 
do  something  for  character,  but  do  not  teach 
individual  action  or  the  relations  of  the  pupils  to 
society.  We  could  throw  away  enough  useless 
matter  now  taught  in  the  schools  to  give  time  for 
this  instruction."  Superintendent  Cooley  explained 
that  such  subjects  had  not  formerly  been  taught 
in  the  schools  of  Chicago  because  in  an  earlier 
stage  of  social  organization  every  child  received  a 
share  of  such  instruction  in  his  own  home,  but  that 
the  school  of  1850  was  not  necessarily  the  best 
school  in  1901.  Mr.  Shedd,  out  of  his  practical 

[30] 


THE   MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

experience  in  the  employment  of  young  men  and 
women  in  business,  spoke  with  authority,  to  the 
effect  that  the  high  school  graduates  of  today  are 
ill -prepared  for  business,  and  advocated  a  commer- 
cial course  of  two  years  in  high  school  in  addition 
to  the  regular  course. 

Action  was  taken  in  the  form  of  a  resolution, 
one  clause  of  which  read:  "First,  that  the  constant 
aim  of  all  instruction  and  training  be  to  produce 
intelligent,  self-supporting  citizens,"  and  which 
ended  with  this  solemn  dedication  of  the  Club 
to  this  work: 

"RESOLVED,  That  the  President,  with  the  approval 
of  the  Executive  Committee,  be  empowered  to  take 
such  steps  and  appoint  such  committees  as  may  seem 
in  their  judgment  calculated  to  aid  in  carrying  out 
this  important  work,  which,  we  believe,  offers  an  ap- 
propriate and  practical  field  for  usefulness  on  the  part 
of  the  Club,  and  to  this  end  the  members  of  this  Club 
pledge  themselves  to  give  their  earnest  endeavors  to 
the  work  of  helping  to  enlarge,  improve  and  approve 
the  scope  and  character  of  services  rendered  by  the 
Public  School  System  as  set  forth  above." 

The  secretary  was  absent  from  the  city  at  the 
time  of  this  meeting,  and  the  names  of  the  first 
Educational  Committee  seem  not  to  have  been 
recorded.  The  Educational  Committee  for  the  next 
season,  1902-3,  included  John  R.  Morron,  chair- 
man, James  G.  Rogers,  Charles  D.  Norton,  A.  F. 
Gartz,  Frank  H.  Armstrong,  and  Joseph  T.  Bowen. 
Among  dinner  topics  suggested  at  the  meeting  of 

[31] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

November  11,  1902,  was  the  following  well  worked 
out  program  emanating  from  James  Gamble 
Rogers : 

1.  "Need  of  a  Public  Manual  Training  School 

for  Girls.  Object — Instruction  in  domestic 
science  and  arts,  such  as  cooking,  sewing, 
etc. 

2.  Need  of  a  Trade  School  for  Boys.    Object — 

Instruction  and  apprenticeship  in  the  dif- 
ferent trades. 

3.  Need  of  a  Public  School  Commons.    Object — 

To  give  better  business  training  than  that 
afforded  by  business  schools  in  a  six  months' 
course." 

At  its  meeting  on  February  18,  1904,  the  Club 
had  as  guests  representatives  from  the  City 
Council,  from  the  Board  of  Education  and  from 
the  Press,  and  adjourned  from  the  dinner  table  to 
go  to  the  Washington  school  at  the  corner  of 
what  is  now  Grand  avenue  and  North  Morgan 
street.  It  is  recorded  that  "an  interesting  evening 
was  spent  inspecting  the  work  done  in  the  night 
schools  of  Chicago,  etc.,  both  that  by  the  Board 
of  Education  and  that  by  the  Educational  Com- 
mittee of  the  Merchants  Club,  the  latter  support- 
ing manual  training,  cooking,  sewing,  typewriting 
and  pottery  departments." 

Returning  to  the  Auditorium  at  ten  o'clock,  a 
supper  was  served,  after  which  addresses  were 
delivered  by  Edwin  G.  Cooley,  Superintendent  of 
Schools,  W.  G.  Bogan,  Principal  of  the  Washington 

[32] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

school;  Joseph  T.  Bowen,  chairman  of  the  West 
Division  Educational  committee  of  the  Mer- 
chants Club;  Allen  B.  Pond,  chairman  of  the 
O'Toole  School  committee;  James  G.  Rogers, 
chairman  of  the  Washington  school  committee. 
After  so  strenuous  a  program  we  are  glad  to  read 
the  Secretary's  record  that  Alfred  Cowles  sang 
"On  the  Road  to  Mandalay,"  and  that  President 
Charles  Wacker  led  the  Assembly  in  "The  Stoker 
Song." 

By  the  time  that  the  Merchants  Club  had  pro- 
gressed to  the  48th  regular  meeting,  on  January 
14,  1905,  the  subject  of  "The  Public  Schools" 
appeared  in  its  rightful  place  as  among  the  impor- 
tant factors  of  the  city's  progress,  even  on  a  pro- 
gram which  included  such  topics  as  "The  Chicago 
Commercial  Association,"  "The  Great  Lakes  as  a 
Factor  in  Transportation  Facilities,"  "Chicago 
as  a  Financial  Center,"  "  Chicago  as  a  Manufactur- 
ing Center,"  and  "The  Spirit  of  Progress  and 
Chicago's  New  Charter." 

At  the  last  annual  meeting  of  the  Merchants 
Club  as  an  independent  body,  May  5,  1906,  the 
subject  of  Manual  Training  Schools  occupied  a 
large  part  of  the  consideration  of  the  Club.  It 
developed  that  under  the  Illinois  Act  of  1897,  the 
establishment  of  a  manual  training  department 
for  high  schools  was  possible;  that  in  1900  such  a 
department  was  established  in  Chicago,  and  that 
during  the  year  then  just  past  one  such  school 
was  held  in  the  building  at  Cass  and  Illinois 

[331 


THE   MERCHANTS  CLUB   OF  CHICAGO 

streets,  and  another  in  the  Moseley  building  on 
20th  street.  The  students  were  principally  from 
apprentices  to  the  mason  and  carpenter  trades. 
By  an  amendment  in  1903  to  the  Illinois  Act  on 
Apprentices  it  was  provided  that  in  municipal- 
ities where  manual  training  schools  are  maintained, 
indentures  of  apprenticeship  shall  require  the 
master  to  cause  the  apprentice  to  attend  such 
school  for  at  least  three  consecutive  months  in 
each  year  without  expense  to  the  apprentice. 

It  was  pointed  out  that  to  a  certain  extent 
existing  manual  training  schools  were  failing  of 
their  primary  purpose,  and  the  labor  unions  pre- 
ferred to  keep  trade  training  in  their  own  hands, 
and  were  practically  compelling  the  so-called 
manual  training  schools  to  limit  their  instruction 
to  reading,  writing,  applied  arithmetic  and  drawing. 

On  December  8,  1906,  at  the  Auditorium  hotel, 
and  under  the  presidency  of  Charles  D.  Norton 
of  the  Merchants  Club,  occurred  one  of  the  most 
notable  meetings  in  the  cause  of  education  that 
ever  took  place  in  Chicago.  The  speakers  were 
Theodore  W.  Robinson;  Edward  C.  Eliot,  ex- 
Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  St.  Louis; 
James  J.  Storrow,  President  of  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion of  Boston,  and  Nicholas  Murray  Butler, 
President  of  Columbia  University,  New  York 
City.  Four  States  were  thus  represented  by  the 
men  who  spoke,  and  every  grade  of  school  from  the 
lowest  to  the  highest.  Moreover  in  the  audience 
were  men  who  had  been  studying  these  questions 

[34] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

from  the  vantage-point  of  applied  education,  and 
who  were  in  a  sense  the  fulcrum  against  which 
the  long  lever  of  public  opinion  rested  in  raising 
Chicago's  load  to  a  higher  level. 

The  meeting  which  immediately  followed  this 
was  a  closed  joint  meeting  with  the  Commercial 
Club  and  the  Merchants  Club  in  conference.  Only 
one  more  meeting  of  the  Merchants  Club  took 
place.  The  curtain  was  falling,  but  it  is  significant 
that  when  it  rose  again  the  first  regular  meeting 
held  by  the  united  bodies  was  in  the  cause  of 
education.  At  that  brilliant  gathering  the  sub- 
ject of  discussion  was  Industrial  Education,  with 
speakers  from  abroad  and  from  both  the  industrial 
world  and  the  field  of  advanced  ideas  in  teaching. 
The  developments  in  manual  training  which 
children  of  the  present  enjoy  in  Chicago,  and  those 
of  the  future  will  enjoy,  must  be  credited  in  large 
part  to  the  clear  thought  and  open  hand  of  the 
united  body  of  business  men  made  up  of  the  Com- 
mercial and  Merchants  Club  members. 

Of  the  71  meetings  during  its  ten  years  of  in- 
dependent existence,  three  were  joint  with  the 
Commercial  Club,  six  were  special,  as  visits  to 
business  establishments,  outings,  and  in  honor  of 
some  friend  or  celebrity,  thirteen  were  closed 
meetings,  for  reviewing  the  past,  etc.,  leaving 
forty-nine  for  critical  or  constructive  work,  and 
these  were  devoted  to  discussions  of  finance  and 
trade,  of  educational  matters,  of  political  not 
partisan  subjects,  embracing  both  municipal  and 

[35] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

national  affairs.  The  wording  of  the  subjects 
was  different  in  each  case,  of  course,  but  really 
the  subjects  fell  into  these  four  categories,  for 
these  are  the  things  that  concern  men.  Not  all  of 
them  had  as  definite  concrete  results  as  the 
Fawners'  Bank  plan,  the  Great  Lakes  Naval  Sta- 
tion, the  City  Plan.  One  meeting  was  addressed 
by  women  only,  Mrs.  Maud  Ballington  Booth,  who 
spoke  of  her  work  with  State  Prisons  and  of  her 
Hope  Halls  which  started  the  ex-convicts  on  the 
right  road  when  they  had  served  their  time  and 
discharged  their  legal  debt  to  society;  and  Miss 
Jane  Addams,  who  told  her  methods  to  prevent 
boys  and  girls  from  becoming  criminals.  Presidents 
and  ex-Presidents  and  Cabinet  Ministers,  Foreign 
Envoys,  Scholars,  Statesmen,  eminent  Jurists  and 
Philanthropists  and  Ecclesiastics,  Naval  and  Mil- 
itary officers,  Railroad  and  Industrial  and  Com- 
mercial magnates,  and  Labor  leaders,  experts 
who  had  given  years  of  study  to  their  subjects,  men 
of  affairs  from  all  over  the  land,  and  many  honor- 
able private  citizens,  gave  entertainment  and 
instruction  at  these  meetings,  and  members  of  the 
Club  have  taken  counsel  together,  seeking  knowl- 
edge to  justify  action. 

Officials  were  officially  received,  with  due  for- 
malities and  attention.  Always  these  receptions 
were  intended  to  be  decorous  and  dignified.  With 
the  best  intentions  decorum  and  dignity  sometimes 
fail.  Members  may  recall  the  great  preparations  of 
the  Reception  committee  to  welcome  the  Am- 

[36] 


THE   MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

bassador  of  His  Imperial  Majesty  of  China  in 
1905,  and  going  in  a  body  to  the  station  expecting 
to  meet  oriental  splendor  and  ceremonial,  to  find 
instead  a  quiet,  democratic  gentleman,  carrying 
his  own  suit  case;  and  perhaps  they  may  recall 
also  the  several  amusing  contretemps  attending 
his  entertainment  and  departure. 

There  were  some  unusual  meetings,  one  in  the 
winter  of  1902,  while  many  guests  were  present, 
when  a  well  known  and  much  loved  cartoonist 
mounted  the  table  and  rapidly  drew  caricatures  of 
half  a  dozen  of  the  more  prominent  men  present; 
and  again  at  a  dinner  at  a  member's  home,  where 
some  unconscionable  wag  reported  that  the  wine 
had  given  out — this  was  before  prohibition  days — 
and  even  hinted  that  resort  should  be  had  to  a 
near  neighbor,  the  redoubtable  and  sportive  Mike 
McDonald,  for  a  further  supply. 

Occasionally  there  was  a  bit  of  delicious  fooling, 
mostly  at  closed  meetings  with  only  members 
present,  and  rarely  at  an  open  meeting,  but  once, 
when  a  staid  and  dignified  member  spoke  on  a 
serious  subject  wholly  in  the  manner  of  the  newly 
arrived  Swede  in  thought,  in  gesture  and  in  accent. 
And  at  the  final  meeting  of  the  club,  lest  any 
feeling  of  gloom  or  regret  might  exist,  some  light- 
some frivolity  was  introduced  in  many  short  ex- 
tempore speeches  and  in  singing  parodies  of  topi- 
cal songs. 

A  custom  of  the  Club,  honored  annually  in  its 
observance,  was  to  take  a  day  for  the  inspection 

[37] 


of  some  commercial,  railroad  or  manufacturing 
enterprise,  or  other  type  of  Chicago  industry,  and 
once  this  was  construed  to  include  a  visit  to  the 
County  Institutions  at  Dunning;  or,  better,  the 
Club  spent  a  day  in  some  open  air  pastime,  as 
when  it  accepted  the  courtesy  of  the  C.  &  N.  W. 
R.  R.  for  a  trip  to  Madison  to  see  the  baseball 
game  between  Wisconsin  and  Chicago  Univer- 
sities; or  to  spend  a  day  on  the  golf  links  at  some 
time  in  the  early  summer;  or  as  guests  of  one  of 
the  members  at  his  country  home,  to  enjoy  country 
sports  and  country  air  and  scenery,  relaxation  from 
business,  and  the  graces  of  hospitality,  combined 
in  one  pleasant  holiday.  Formality  was  taboo; 
the  years  and  the  dignity  slipped  from  back  and 
shoulders,  and  the  spirit  and  zest  and  sprightliness 
of  youth  replaced  the  sober  grind  in  pursuit  of  that 
acknowledged  measure  of  success,  the  nimble  and 
elusive  dollar.  That  day  of  outing  was  ever  a  joy. 
While  it  has  seemed  more  important  from  a 
Chicago  viewpoint  to  dwell  on  the  things  in  the 
Merchants  Club  annals  which  touched  Chicago 
most  closely  and  changed  her  institutions  for  the 
better,  one  can  not  write  the  history  of  the  Mer- 
chants Club  without  recording  certain  addresses 
made  before  that  body  which  were  of  universal 
or  nation-wide  interest.  Two  of  those  of  especial 
significance  were  that  of  November  8,  1904,  when 
the  Right  Hon.  John  Morley  discoursed  on  Ameri- 
can Elections,  and  that  of  March  10,  1906,  when 
President  Eliot  spoke  of  the  Ethics  of  Corporate 

[38] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

Management.  Many  thought  these  the  choicest 
meetings  held  by  the  Club,  filled  as  they  were  with 
instruction,  entertainment,  delicate  humor  and 
sparkling  badinage.  Both  were  large  meetings, 
and  with  men  of  such  marked  ability  and  char- 
acter speaking,  public  opinion  necessarily  was 
drawn  to  such  topics.  Always  on  such  occasions 
the  Club  and  its  members  were  generous  in  in- 
vitations to  friends  and  the  public.  The  Club 
did  not  set  itself  up  as  a  preacher  or  an  exemplar, 
but  strove  to  do  its  work  as  a  part  of  the  public  and 
for  the  public  good.  Another  such  dinner  was 
at  the  Grand  Pacific  hotel  on  November  12,  1898, 
when  the  subject,  "Advantages  to  be  gained  by 
Chicago  and  the  Northwest  from  territorial  ex- 
pansion," was  discussed  by  Stuyvesant  Fish,  of 
New  York,  William  E.  Curtis,  of  Washington, 
Henry  S.  Boutell,  United  States  Congressman, 
and  H.  P.  Judson,  of  Chicago.  Again,  on  the 
llth  of  February,  1899,  there  was  a  notable  con- 
sideration of  our  trade  relations  with  Canada, 
with  President  Selfridge,  who  had  graduated  from 
the  business  of  Marshall  Field  &  Co.  into  his  own 
establishment,  followed  by  such  men  as  Hon. 
John  Charlton,  member  of  the  Canadian  Parlia- 
ment, and  ending  with  an  address  by  James  H. 
Eckels.  "Canada  and  Reciprocity"  was  the  sub- 
ject November  10,  1906,  presented  by  President 
James  J.  Hill  of  Great  Northern  Railway. 

The  Negro  Problem  in  the  South  was  ably 
presented  before  the  Club  one  evening  early  in 

[39] 


March,  1901,  by  P.  B.  Barringer  of  the  University 
of  Virginia, — a  southerner  of  the  old  school, — and 
with  equal  ability,  and  doubtless  to  the  better 
liking  of  the  Club,  by  Booker  T.  Washington  of 
Tuskegee  Institute.  Financial  and  industrial  com- 
binations were  given  an  airing  by  Carroll  D.  Wright, 
United  States  Commissioner,  and  Judge  James  B. 
Dill,  of  New  York,  the  latter  known  as  "the  father 
of  trusts,"  a  director  in  the  Carnegie  Company, 
and  in  many  other  corporations.  It  was  remarked 
on  this  occasion  that  there  was  no  debate  between 
the  speakers,  but  that  though  neither  knew  the 
contents  of  the  other's  paper,  there  was  a  striking 
parallel  between  the  arguments  they  advanced. 

Melville  Stone,  President  of  the  Associated 
Press,  who  claimed  New  York  for  his  residence, 
yet  could  not  keep  away  from  Chicago  for  any 
length  of  time,  came  on  to  speak  from  his  ripe 
experience  on  "The  Infallibility  of  the  Press," 
This  was  at  Kinsley's,  on  January  11,  1902.  Mr. 
Stone  while  admitting  the  infallibility  of  the  As- 
sociated Press  of  course,  took  occasion  to  warn  the 
public  against  all  sensational  writers,  and  said  that 
the  only  paper  really  to  be  trusted  is  one  which 
does  things  for  the  public  good,  one  edited  by  a 
man  who  makes  the  newspaper  an  end  by  which 
success  may  be  achieved,  and  not  a  means."  He 
said  that  it  should  be  "  untrammeled,  able  to 
criticise  without  fear  when  it  finds  a  thing  that 
should  be  criticised," — a  doctrine  readily  assented 
to  by  the  members  of  the  Merchants  Club.  Slason 

[40] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB   OF  CHICAGO 

Thompson  and  John  McCutcheon  were  present 
on  that  occasion,  and  the  latter  improved  his 
time  in  getting  some  swift  sketches  of  Mr.  Stone,  of 
John  V.  Farwell,  of  Alexander  H.  Revell  and  James 
H.  Eckels  in  characteristic  poses.  George  Ade  was 
unable  to  be  present,  but  a  letter  that  purported  to 
be  from  him  was  read  by  Slason  Thompson,  to  the 
effect  that  he  knew  the  great  pleasure  of  which 
he  was  depriving  the  Club,  but  it  was  unavoidable ! 
This  was  enough  like  Ade  to  have  been  his  genuine 
letter. 

Always  speakers  before  the  Club  have  been  un- 
trammeled  in  their  utterances,  were  privileged 
to  say  what  they  thought,  whether  agreeable  to 
their  hearers  or  not.  Rarely  have  the  people  of 
Chicago  listened  to  plainer  talk  on  police  admin- 
istration than  that  delivered  by  District  Attorney 
William  Travers  Jerome  of  New  York  City  and 
his  aides,  Police  Inspector  Frank  Willard  (Josiah 
Flint),  and  Deputy  Commissioner  Captain  Alex- 
ander Piper.  They  were  the  guests  of  honor  of 
the  Club  on  January  9,  1904,  and  before  62  mem- 
bers and  150  guests  they  dwelt  on  our  short- 
comings in  a  masterful  manner,  and  doubtless 
for  our  good. 

Chicago's  feelings  were  somewhat  mollified 
when,  on  March  12,  1904,  at  the  second  meeting 
after  that  tempestuous  dinner,  George  Bruce 
Cortelyou,  Secretary  of  the  then  newly  created 
Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  spoke  to  the 
Club  on  "Some  Problems  and  Policies  of  the 

[41] 


New  Department.'*  There  were  present  45  mem- 
bers and  101  guests,  among  the  latter  foreign 
consuls,  army  and  navy  officers,  city  officials, 
and  others.  Brigadier-General  Frederick  Dent 
Grant  followed  Mr.  Cortelyou,  and  thereafter  we 
rejoiced  that  if  in  the  eyes  of  some  eastern  friends 
Chicago  was  not  impeccable  as  to  its  police  de- 
partment— and  it  was  not — at  least  there  were 
other  friends  to  credit  us  with  some  knowledge  of 
commerce  and  labor. 

President  Roosevelt  visited  Chicago  on  May  10, 
1905,  and  was  entertained — first  among  many 
affairs— at  a  luncheon  at  the  Auditorium  by  the 
Merchants  Club.  On  his  arrival  on  the  noon 
train,  fresh  from  the  West,  after  shaking  hands 
with  the  engineer,  as  was  his  custom,  and  after 
sundry  exciting  moments  amid  the  crowds  who 
were  shouting  for  "Teddy,"  he  was  greeted  by 
the  Committee  of  the  Club  and  hurried  off  to  the 
noon-time  repast.  In  the  light  of  events  that  have 
followed,  we  may  read  with  a  new  understanding 
some  of  the  things  which  our  warrior-President 
said  that  day: 

"I  believe  in  a  big  navy,  and  I  hope  that  I  need 
not  say  that  I  believe  in  it,  not  as  a  provocative 
to  war,  but  as  a  guaranty  of  peace  .  .  .  '  "We 
have  not  the  choice,  gentlemen,  as  to  whether  this 
country  shall  play  a  great  part  in  the  world;  we 
cannot  help  playing  a  great  part.  All  we  can  decide 
is  whether  we  will  play  it  well  or  ill ;  we  have  that 
to  decide  .  .  .  ' 

[42] 


^J  trstdcnt  0 1:  t  J?  c  iliulrfr  H^at 


w 


l4*4*&M 


s 


&'  'ifa/rnv, 


& 


^ 

6 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

"We  cannot  abandon  our  position  on  the 
Monroe  Doctrine ;  we  cannot  abandon  the  Panama 
Canal;  we  cannot  abandon  the  duties  that  have 
come  to  us  from  the  mere  fact  of  our  growth  as  a 
nation,  from  the  growth  of  our  commercial  inter- 
ests in  the  East  and  in  the  West,  on  the  Atlantic 
and  on  the  Pacific.  Now  I  earnestly  hope  that 
with  the  added  responsibility  will  come  not  merely 
a  growth  in  power  to  meet  that  responsibility,  but 
a  growth  in  sobriety  of  mental  attitude  on  our 
part  toward  these  new  duties.  If  there  is  one 
thing  that  ought  to  be  more  offensive  to  every 
good  American  than  anything  else,  it  is  the  habit  of 
speaking  with  a  loose  tongue  offensively  about 
foreign  nations,  or  of  adopting  an  ill-considered 
and  irritating  attitude  toward  any  one  of  them. ' ' 

"I  hope  to  see  our  foreign  policy  conducted 
always  in  the  spirit  not  merely  of  scrupulous  re- 
gard for  the  rights  of  others,  but  of  scrupulous 
courtesy  toward  others,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
see  us  keep  prepared  so  that  there  is  no  position 
that  we  take  in  either  hemisphere  that,  once  taken, 
we  cannot  stand  on." 

Soon  after  this,  on  November  11,  1905  the  Club 
discussed  "Our  Trade  Relations  with  China," 
with  that  most  able  and  authoritative  exponent  of 
the  Chinese  side,  Sir  Chentung  Liang-Cheng,  His 
Imperial  Chinese  Majesty's  Envoy  Extraordinary 
and  Minister  Plenipotentiary,  as  the  principal 
speaker.  This  was  followed  on  December  9  of  the 
same  year  by  a  conference  on  The  Old  Navy  and 

[43] 


THE   MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

the  New,  with  General  Horace  Porter  and  Ad- 
miral Dewey  as  speakers ;  while  at  the  next  meeting 
Gifford  Pinchot  discussed  the  National  Forest 
Service  fully  and  ably. 

Perhaps  the  Club  felt  that  it  had  had  enough 
of  the  serious  and  the  strenuous  part  of  life  for  a 
time,  or  perhaps  it  was  trying  to  carry  out  Presi- 
dent Roosevelt's  advice,  and  be  courteous  to  our 
national  neighbors.  At  any  rate,  its  next  meeting 
was  held  on  February  18,  1906,  in  the  Cafe  de 
Chapultepec,  in  the  City  of  Mexico.  Mr.  Robert 
Mather,  President  of  the  Rock  Island  Railway, 
took  the  Club  as  his  guests  on  an  excursion  to 
Mexico,  on  pleasure  bent  but  not  inattentive  to 
business  considerations  at  the  same  time.  In  the 
party  were  Alfred  Cowles,  Edward  A.  Turner, 
Charles  H.  Thome,  Nelson  P.  Bigelow,  Charles 
R.  Corwith,  W.  Vernon  Booth,  Granger  Farwell, 
Frederick  Greeley,  George  Merryweather,  Walter 
H.  Wilson,  Benjamin  Carpenter,  Charles  R.  Crane, 
Charles  D.  Norton,  Arthur  D.  Wheeler,  Charles 
L.  Strobel,  and  others. 

A  dinner  to  Mr.  Mather,  given  by  President 
Wacker  at  the  Auditorium  on  February  27,  1906, 
followed  the  return  of  the  Mexican  party,  at  which 
dinner  it  appeared  that  the  Club  had  been  deeply 
impressed  with  the  development  of  Mexico,  par- 
ticularly in  the  direction  of  mining  enterprises. 

Much  might  be  said  in  recognition  of  the  work 
of  Charles  D.  Norton,  who  presided  over  the  City 
Plan  committee  until  called  to  Washington  as 

[44] 


<7 


THE   MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

Private  Secretary  to  President  Taft,  and  of  his 
successor,  Charles  H.  Wacker;  of  John  V.  Farwell, 
who  sponsored  the  Pawners'  Bank  plan  and  was 
first  president  of  the  bank;  of  Theodore  Robin- 
son and  his  great  efforts  for  vocational  education; 
of  William  E.  Clow,  of  Joseph  T.  Bowen,  of 
Richard  M.  Bissell.  Special  attention  might  be 
called,  also,  to  the  work  of  other  members  on  each 
of  the  great  questions  that  were  before  the  Mer- 
chants Club,  for  many  deserve  special  commenda- 
tion for  unselfish  devotion  and  persistent  and 
wisely  directed  effort.  Such  special  mention  might 
be  invidious,  however,  for  in  each  case  every 
member  did  what  in  him  lay  to  help  the  causes 
advocated  by  the  Club,  and  no  man  sought  special 
commendation.  It  was  the  loyal  teamwork  of  all 
that  accomplished  successful  results. 

Some  indications  of  other  efforts  and  intent  of 
the  Merchants  Club,  and  of  the  wide  range  of  its 
activities  and  discussions  may  be  gathered  from 
the  list  of  meetings  appearing  elsewhere  in  this 
book.  These  discussions  never  were  frivolous 
but  earnest  and  dignified,  and  almost  always 
brought  about  good  results. 

One  or  more  meetings  of  more  than  passing 
merit,  and  ending  in  good  constructive  work, 
marked  every  administration,  though  as  often  is 
the  case,  some  of  the  most  efficient  were  the  least 
spectacular  and  had  the  least  record. 

The  last  meeting  of  the  Merchants  Club  as  an 
independent  organization  took  place  at  the  Audi- 

[45] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

torium  hotel  on  the  evening  of  February  9,  1907. 
It  was  a  closed  meeting,  and  the  secretary  has 
left  no  record  of  it  in  the  Club's  Minute  Book. 
There  is  no  need.  The  Merchants  Club  had 
written  its  record  into  the  lives  of  the  children  of 
the  city,  in  the  altered  homes  of  the  poor,  in  the 
cleaner  streets  and  cleaner  policies  of  Chicago,  in 
the  great  Naval  Station  which  was  to  go  so  far 
toward  saving  civilization  in  the  world  war,  in  the 
dawning  vision  of  the  City  redeemed  and  made 
beautiful.  To  belong  to  the  Merchants  Club  of 
Chicago  had  become  a  sufficient  charter  of  nobility. 
There  was  only  one  added  honor  for  it,  and  that 
was  to  be  invited  by  the  elder  organization,  the 
Commercial  Club,  which  had  so  long  borne  the 
standard  of  civic  righteousness,  to  fall  in  line  be- 
side it.  Both  were  striving  for  the  same  ends. 
One  in  purpose,  they  became  one  in  fact,  and 
April  27th  of  that  year  found  the  two  organiza- 
tions blended  into  one,  under  the  presidency  of  the 
man  who  had  been  the  first  president  of  the  Mer- 
chants Club.  This  was  also  a  closed  meeting,  and 
its  subject  marked  the  beginning  of  the  city's  rise 
to  a  new  and  higher  plane, — the  realization  of  the 
"Plan  of  Chicago" — to  be  a  city  of  law  and  order 
and  beauty — a  city  of  opportunity  alike  for  its 
humblest  and  its  proudest  citizen. 


[46] 


BY-LAWS  OF 
THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB 


II 


Object 

THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO  is  organized 
for  the  purpose  of  advancing  business  and  public 
interests,  through  an  association  of  merchants  and 
business  men,  and  a  free  interchange  of  views. 

By-laws 
'  ARTICLE  I 

MEMBERS 

SECTION  1.  The  club  shall  consist  of  those  by 
whom  its  original  constitution  was  framed,  and  of 
such  other  members  as  shall  be  elected  in  accord- 
ance with  the  provisions  of  its  By-laws. 

SECTION  2.  Recommendations  for  membership 
shall  be  made  in  writing  to  the  Secretary.  If  the 
Executive  Committee  unanimously  approve  a  can- 
didate for  membership,  his  name  shall  be  placed 
upon  a  printed  ballot,  which  shall  be  sent  to  each 
member  by  mail,  but  only  one  name  at  a  time  shall 
be  approved  by  the  Executive  Committee  or  sub- 
mitted for  election;  and  each  member  may  vote 
upon  the  election  of  such  candidate  by  writing 
"Yes"  or  "No"  opposite  the  name  upon  the  ballot, 
and  shall  return  such  ballot  to  the  Secretary  within 

[49] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

the  time  therein  specified.  Three  (3)  negative 
votes  shall  exclude  the  candidate.  An  entrance  fee 
of  $25.00  shall  be  paid  on  admission,  and  annual 
dues  of  $60.00  shall  be  payable  at  the  beginning  of 
each  year,  which  shall  include  all  regular  dinners. 
The  fiscal  year  shall  end  with  the  annual  meeting 
in  April. 

SECTION  3.  In  the  admission  of  members  due 
regard  shall  be  had,  as  far  as  practicable,  to  the 
branch  of  business  in  which  candidates  are  en- 
gaged, so  that  the  various  interests  of  the  city 
shall  be  fairly  represented  in  the  Club. 

SECTION  4.  The  membership  shall  consist  of 
active,  associate  and  non-resident  members.  The 
number  of  active  members  shall  not  exceed  sixty, 
and  no  person  over  fifty  years  of  age  shall  be 
eligible  to  active  membership.  Associate  mem- 
bers shall  be  chosen  only  from  the  active  mem- 
bership. 

SECTION  5.  Any  active  member,  who  has  been 
such  for  ten  years,  may,  at  his  written  request, 
when  approved  by  unanimous  vote  of  the  Execu- 
tive Committee,  become  an  associate  member; 
and  every  active  member,  upon  reaching  the 
age  of  fifty -five  years,  may  become  an  associate 
member. 

SECTION  6.  An  associate  member  shall  have 
the  same  privileges  and  duties  as  an  active  member, 
save  only  that  he  cannot  vote  for  the  election  of 
members  or  officers  or  Executive  Committee,  or  be 
elected  an  officer  of  the  Club;  nor  shall  he  be  fined 

[50] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

for  absence  from  Club  meetings,  except  when  he 
has  notified  the  Secretary  that  he  would  attend  a 
meeting.  Associate  members  shall  be  eligible  to 
the  Executive  Committee  and  to  all  other  Com- 
mittees of  the  Club.  The  annual  dues  of  associate 
members  shall  be  the  same  as  those  of  active 
members. 

SECTION  7.  Any  active  or  associate  member 
who  has  changed  his  residence  from  Chicago  to 
any  point  not  less  than  one  hundred  miles  there- 
from may  make  application  to  the  Executive 
Committee  and  upon  their  approval,  become 
a  non-resident  member.  Non-resident  members 
shall  have  the  privilege  of  attending  any  regular 
meetings  of  the  Club  upon  giving  the  Secretary 
due  notice  of  their  intention  so  to  do.  They  shall 
pay  annual  dues  of  $10.00  payable  at  the  begin- 
ning of  each  fiscal  year,  and  an  assessment  of 
$5.00  for  each  meeting  of  the  Club  they  attend, 
Non-resident  members  shall  not  be  entitled  to 
vote  or  participate  in  the  election  of  members  or 
officers. 

SECTION  8.  Any  member  who  shall  fail  to  pay 
his  annual  dues  or  fines  for  absence  for  the  space 
of  two  months  after  notification  by  the  Treasurer, 
and  any  active  member  who  shall  absent  himself 
from  four  consecutive  meetings  without  the  ne- 
cessary excuse  hereafter  specified  shall  thereupon 
forfeit  his  membership. 

SECTION  9.  Every  active  member  shall  attend 
each  meeting  of  the  Club  unless  prevented  by 

[51] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

sickness  or  unavoidable  absence  from  Chicago  and 
vicinity.  If  he  absents  himself  without  the  neces- 
sary excuse  he  shall  be  assessed  as  follows: 

First  absence $  5.00 

Second  consecutive  absence  .      .      10.00 
Third  consecutive  absence     .      .      15.00 

ARTICLE  II 

OFFICERS    AND    EXECUTIVE    COMMITTEE 

SECTION  1.  The  officers  shall  consist  of  a  Presi- 
dent, a  Vice-President,  a  Secretary,  and  a  Treas- 
urer. 

SECTION  2.  The  Executive  Committee  shall 
consist  of  the  Officers,  the  President  of  the  Club 
for  the  preceding  year,  the  Chairman  of  the  Re- 
ception Committee,  and  four  other  members  of  the 
Club  to  be  elected  as  hereinafter  provided. 

SECTION  3.  At  the  April  meeting  of  the  Club, 
the  officers  shall  be  elected  to  serve  one  year, 
or  until  their  successors  are  elected.  The  four 
elective  members  of  the  Executive  Committee 
shall  be  elected  to  serve  for  a  term  of  two  years. 
Two  of  these  four  members  shall  be  elected  an- 
nually. 

SECTION  4.  A  Reception  Committee  of  five  (5) 
members,  including  a  Chairman,  shall  be  elected 
at  the  April  meeting,  having  been  nominated 
according  to  Section  1,  of  Article  III.  This  Com- 
mittee shall  have  in  charge  the  entertainment  of 
speakers,  guests  of  honor,  and  new  members; 

[52] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

serving  in  a  general  way  as  hosts  of  the  Club, 
subject  to  the  Executive  Committee. 

SECTION  5.  The  Executive  Committee  shall 
have  the  power,  by  unanimous  vote,  to  discipline 
or  expel  any  member,  whenever  in  its  judgment 
the  best  interests  of  the  Club  shall  require  such 
action. 

SECTION  6.  The  Executive  Committee  shall 
have  the  power  to  assess  members  for  expenses 
which  it  may  be  necessary  to  incur  for  any  special 
occasion. 

ARTICLE  III 

NOMINATING    COMMITTEE    AND    MEETINGS 

SECTION  1.  A  Nominating  Committee  of  five 
members  shall  be  selected  at  the  regular  March 
meeting  of  the  Club,  and  this  Committee  shall 
prepare  a  list  of  candidates  for  the  various  offices 
and  elective  committees.  Such  list  shall  be  mailed 
to  each  member  at  least  two  weeks  before  the 
April  meeting,  at  which  meeting  the  annual  elec- 
tion shall  be  held. 

The  Secretary  shall  also  mail  to  the  members 
at  least  five  (5)  days  prior  to  the  April  meeting, 
any  opposition  ticket  received  by  him  which  has 
the  written  approval  of  at  least  ten  active  members. 

SECTION  2.  The  Club  shall  hold  meetings  on  the 
second  Saturday  of  each  month,  from  November 
to  April,  inclusive.  The  Executive  Committee 
is  authorized  to  change  the  date  of  the  meeting 
whenever  they  may  deem  it  advisable. 

[53] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

ARTICLE  IV 
GUESTS 

SECTION  1.  Any  member,  with  the  permission 
of  the  Executive  Committee,  may  invite  one  or 
more  guests  to  attend  any  regular  meeting. 

ARTICLE  V 

AMENDMENTS 

SECTION  1.  These  Articles  may  be  altered  or 
amended  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  the  members 
present  at  any  meeting  of  the  Club,  if  notice  of 
the  proposed  amendment  was  given  at  a  previous 
meeting. 


[54] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 
ORGANIZATION 


LIST  OF  OFFICERS  AND  COMMITTEES 

February  1897— February  1907 
N  seeking  to  estimate  the  value  of  an  untried 


i 


organization,  one  first  scans  the  list  of  Execu- 
tives and  working  Committees.  The  theory  of 
the  Merchants  Club  was  that  each  administration 
should  have  one  year  of  office  only,  but  that  one 
member  of  the  current  administration  should  hold 
over  to  the  next,  to  insure  continuity  of  policy. 
At  its  beginning  its  committees  naturally  were 
few:  as  it  settled  down  to  its  work  the  commit- 
tees grew  greater  in  number  and  larger  in  mem- 
bership, and  many  times  were  divided  into  sub- 
committees, that  their  efforts  might  be  directed 
to  the  best  advantage.  The  rosters  here  given 
for  each  of  the  ten  years  of  the  Club's  life  are 
thought  to  be  complete  and  substantially  correct. 

An  effort  has  been  made  to  have  the  portraits  of 
the  Presidents  of  as  near  the  dates  when  they  held 
office  as  was  possible. 


JOHN  V.  FARWELL 


From  the  Year  of  Establishment 
1897-98 

President John  V.  Farwell,  Jr. 

Vice-President Dunlap  Smith 

Treasurer Charles  R.  Corwith 

Secretary Walter  H.  Wilson 

Executive  Committee 

Harry  G.  Selfridge,       Clarence  Buckingham, 
Arthur  Meeker. 

Membership  Committee 

Henry  A.  Knott, 
John  V.  Farwell,  Jr.,  Dunlap  Smith. 

By-laws  Committee 

Clarence  Buckingham, 
Charles  A.  Coolidge,  Harry  G.  Selfridge. 

Committee  on  Name  of  Organization 

Hermon  B.  Butler, 
Frederick  Greeley,  Charles  R.  Corwith. 

Committee  on  Revenue  Legislation 

Henry  A.  Knott, 
Alexander  H.  Revell,        John  V.  Farwell,  Jr. 

[57] 


The  Club  year  ended  with  the  election  of  officers  for  the  next 
year  at  the  April  meeting.  The  new  administration  assumed 
management  at  once  with  no  regular  club  meetings  during  the 
summer,  but  many  committee  meetings  for  continuation  work  and 
to  prepare  later  programs. 


HARRY  G.  SELFRIDGE 


THE  MERCHANTS   CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

1898-99 

President Harry  G.  Selfridge 

Vice-President Leslie  Carter 

Treasurer Nelson  P.  Bigelow 

Secretary Walter  H.  Wilson 

Executive  Committee 

John  V.  Farwell,  Jr.,  Hermon  B.  Butler, 

Rollin  A.  Keyes. 


[There  were  other  Standing  and  Select  committees,  but  the  titles 
of  these  and  the  names  of  members  were  not  recorded.] 


[59] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

On  Nominations 

The  names  of  the  members  of  the  committee  on 
the  nomination  of  officers  and  standing  committees 
for  the  year  ending  in  April,  1900,  were  not  re- 
corded. 

The  election  was  at  the  annual  closed  meeting 
held  April  8,  1899,  at  Grand  Pacific  Hotel. 


60] 


EDGAR  A.  BANCROFT 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

1899-1900 

President Edgar  A.  Bancroft 

V ice-President Rollin  A.  Keyes 

Treasurer Nelson  P.  Bigelow 

Secretary    .      .      .      .       Alexander  A.  McCormick 

Executive  Committee 

Hermon  B.  Butler,  Leslie  Carter, 

Richard  M.  Bissell. 

Reception  Committee 
William  R.  Harper,  Chairman. 
C.  Frederick  Kimball,      Edward  B.  Butler, 
Graeme  Stewart,  John  G.  Shedd. 

Committee  to  Provide  By-laws  for 
State  Pawners*  Society 
Richard  M.  Bissell, 
Clarence  Buckingham,          E.  A.  Bancroft. 

Committee  to  Revise  By-laws  of 

Merchants  Club 

Hermon  B.  Butler, 

Dunlap  Smith,  Walter  H.  Wilson. 

Committee  on  City's  Finances 

Arthur  T.  Aldis,  Chairman. 

Harold  F.  McCormick,      Rensselaer  W.  Cox. 

Small  Parks  Committee 
Frederick  Greeley,  Chairman. 
Edgar  A.  Bancroft,       Alexander  A.  McCormick, 
Graeme  Stewart,  Frederic  W.  Upham. 

[61] 


The  Committee  on  nominating  the  next  year's 
officers  was  appointed  at  the  March  meeting  of 
1900,  in  accordance  with  the  By-laws.  It  con- 
sisted of: 

Walter  H.  Wilson,  Chairman. 
Arthur  Aldis,  Charles  H.  Hodges, 

Henry  A.  Knott,  Charles  H.  Wacker. 

Election  was  at  the  meeting  April  14th,  at 
University  Club. 


HERMON  B.  BUTLER 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

1900-1 

President Hermon  B.  Butler 

V ice-President Graeme  Stewart 

Treasurer Edwin  G.  Foreman 

Secretary Hugh  J.  McBirney 

Executive  Committee 

Richard  M.  Bissell,       Alex.  A.  McCormick, 
Edgar  A.  Bancroft,       Rollin  A.  Keyes, 
A.  J.  Earling. 

Reception  Committee 

Rollin  A.  Keyes,  Chairman. 
Charles  L.  Bartlett,      Frederick  Greeley, 
Benjamin  Carpenter,    Charles  L.  Strobel. 

Membership  Committee 

Edgar  A.  Bancroft,       John  V.  Farwell,  Jr., 
Richard  M.  Bissell,       Nelson  P.  Bigelow. 

Committee  on  City's  Finances 

William  Kent,  Arthur  T.  Aldis, 

Rensselaer  W.  Cox. 

Committee  on  Prevalence  of  Crime 
Rollin  A.  Keyes,  Albert  J.  Earling. 


[63] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

Committee  on  Nominating  Officers 
Appointed  in  March,  1901 

Alex.  A.  McCormick,  Chairman. 
Nelson  P.  Bigelow,  Charles  R.  Corwith, 

Leslie  Carter,  Harry  G.  Selfridge. 

Election  at  meeting  April  20th,  at  Kinsleys. 


64] 


RICHARD  M.  BISSELL 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

1901-2 

President   .      .      .      .      .      .     Richard  M.  Bissell 

Vice-President Arthur  Meeker 

Treasurer " .   Alfred  L.  Baker 

Secretary Benjamin  Carpenter 

Executive  Committee 

Albert  J.  Earling,          Bernard  E.  Sunny, 
Edgar  A.  Bancroft,       Arthur  T.  Aldis, 
Frederick  Greeley. 

Reception  Committee 

Frederick  Greeley,  Chairman. 
John  R.  Morron,  Hiram  R.  McCullough, 

Frederic  W.  Upham,    Tracy  C.  Drake. 

Small  Parks  Committee 

Graeme  Stewart, 

Edgar  A.  Bancroft,       Frederick  Greeley, 
Alex.  A.  McCormick,  Frederic  W.  Upham. 

Finance  Committee 

Arthur  T.  Aldis,  Harold  F.  McCormick, 

Graeme  Stewart,  Frederic  W.  Upham, 

A.  F.  Gartz,  Alex.  A.  McCormick. 


[65] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

The  Committee  on  Nominating  Officers  was  ap- 
pointed March  8th,  but  members  names  were  not 
recorded. 

Election  at  meeting  April  12, 1902,  at  Kinsleys. 


66] 


ALEXANDER  A.  McCoRMicK 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

1902-3 

President   ....     Alexander  A.  McCormick 
Vice-President      ....    Louis  A.   Seeberger 

Treasurer Alfred  L.  Baker 

Secretary W.  Vernon  Booth 

Executive  Committee 

Arthur  T.  Aldis,  Bernard  E.  Sunny, 

William  Kent,  Charles  L.  Bartlett, 

Benjamin  Carpenter. 

Reception  Committee 

Benjamin  Carpenter,  Chairman. 
Rensselaer  W.  Cox,          Granger  Farwell, 
Alexander  H.  Revell,        John  F.  Harris. 

Committee  on  Lake  Front  Park 

Frederick  Greeley, 
Alfred  L.  Baker,  Arthur  T.  Aldis. 

Educational  Committee 

John  R.  Morron,  Chairman. 
Richard  M.  Bissell,  James  Gamble  Rogers, 

Robert  Mather,  Charles  D.  Norton, 

William  E.  Clow,  A.  F.  Gartz, 

Granger  Farwell,  Frank  H.  Armstrong, 

Harold  F.  McCormick,    Joseph  T.  Bowen. 


[67] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

The  Committee  on  Nominating  Officers  was 
appointed  March  14,  1903,  but  names  of  members 
not  recorded. 

Election  at  meeting  April  11,  1903,  at  Audi- 
torium hotel. 


68] 


WALTER  H.  WILSON 


THE  MERCHANTS   CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

1903-4 

President Walter  H.  Wilson 

V ice-President      ....    Alexander  H.  Re  veil 

Treasurer Harold  F.  McCormick 

Secretary Frank  H.  Armstrong 

Executive  Committee 

Charles  L.  Bartlett,        Hiram  R.  McCullough, 
William  Kent,  Edward  D.  Kenna, 

Frederic  W.  Upham. 

Reception  Committee 

Frederic  W.  Upham,  Chairman. 
Charles  H.  Wacker,        John  R.  Morron, 
Louis  A.  Ferguson,         David  R.  Forgan. 

New  Charter  Committee 
Edward  B.  Butler,         Alexander  H.  Re  veil. 

Educational  Committee 

Granger  Farwell,  Chairman. 
Joseph  T.  Bowen,  Theodore  W.  Robinson, 

Harold  F.  McCormick  Alfred  L.  Cowles, 
John  R.  Morron,  Charles  H.  Hodges, 

William  E.  Clow,  Allen  B.  Pond, 

James  Gamble  Rogers,  Charles  L.  Strobel, 
Charles  D.  Norton,        Reuben  H.  Donnelley, 
Frank  H.  Armstrong,     Francis  C.  Farwell. 


69] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

The  Committee  on  Nominating  Officers  was 
appointed  at  the  meeting  March  12,  1904,  but 
the  names  of  members  were  not  recorded. 

The  election  was  at  meeting  of  April  8,  1904, 
at  the  Auditorium  hotel. 


70] 


ALFRED  L.  BAKER 


THE   MERCHANTS   CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

1904-5 

President Alfred  L.  Baker 

V ice-President      ....     Charles  H.  Wacker 

Treasurer Reuben  H.  Donnelley 

Secretary Charles  D.  Norton 

Executive   Committee 

Hiram  R.  McCullough,    Edward  D.  Kenna, 
John  R.  Morron,  Granger  Farwell, 

Graeme  Stewart,  Walter  H.  Wilson. 

Reception  Committee 
Graeme  Stewart,  Chairman. 
William  E.  Clow,  Charles  G.  Dawes, 

Theodore  W.  Robinson    Louis  A.  Ferguson. 

Educational  Committee 
Joseph  T.  Bowen,  Chairman. 
W.  E.  Clow,  Secretary  and  Treasurer. 
Arthur  D.  Wheeler,          Joseph  E.  Otis, 
Frank  H.  Armstrong,       Frederic  A.  Delano, 
Granger  Farwell,  Allen  B.  Pond, 

Harold  F.  McCormick,    Albert  J.  Earling, 
James  Gamble  Rogers,      Reuben  H.  Donnelley, 
Theodore  W.  Robinson     Francis  C.  Farwell, 
Charles  D.  Norton. 

High-School  Scholarship  Committee 

Granger  Farwell,  Chairman. 
Charles  H.  Wacker,          John  R.  Morron. 

[71] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

Street  Cleaning  Committee 

(To  cooperate  with  Commercial  Club  Committee) 
David  R.  Forgan,  Harry  G.  Selfridge, 

Alexander  H.  Revell,        John  R.  Morron, 
Frank  H.  Armstrong. 

Committee  on  Regulation  of  "Loan  Sharks" 

Edgar  A.  Bancroft,  Chairman. 
Frederic  W.  Upham,        Edward  A.  Turner, 
Graeme  Stewart,  John  V.  Farwell,  Jr. 

Lake  Bluff  Naval  Training  Station  Committee 

Graeme  Stewart,  Chairman. 
Frederic  W.  Upham,        John  R.  Morron, 
Harold  F.  McCormick,     Alfred  L.  Baker. 

Committee  in  Charge  of  Visiting  Chicago's 

Industries 

Harold  F.  McCormick,  Chairman. 
William  R.  Harper,          Alfred  Cowles. 

Committee  on  Lake  Front  Park 
Walter  H.  Wilson,  Chairman. 
Edgar  A.  Bancroft,  Alex.  H.  McCormick, 

Charles  L.  Bartlett,          Edward  D.  Kenna. 

Small  Parks  Committee 

Graeme  Stewart, 

Edgar  A.  Bancroft,  Frederick  Greeley, 

Alex.  A.  McCormick,       Frederic  W.  Upham. 

[72] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

New  Charter  Committee 
Alexander  H.  Revell,        Edward  B.  Butler. 

Charter  Revenue  Committee 
Walter  H.  Wilson,  Chairman. 
Edward  B.  Butler,  Arthur  D.  Wheeler, 

Graeme  Stewart,  Bernard  E.  Sunny. 

Committee  on  Nominating  Officers 

Frederic  A.  Delano,  Chairman. 
Nelson  P.  Bigelow,  Hugh  J.  McBirney, 

Allen  B.  Pond,  Benj.  Carpenter. 

Committee  appointed  March  18,  1905. 
Election  April  22,  1905,  at  Auditorium. 

Y 


There  were  some  important  offerings  under 
Mr.  Baker's  administration  that  should  be  set 
down  here  for  lack  of  a  better  place.  The  visit  of 
Right  Honorable  John  Morley  was  notable  in 
that  it  extended  over  several  days  and  brought  out 
two  memorable  addresses — one  at  luncheon,  and 
particularly  another  at  dinner  on  the  evening  of 
the  same  day.  The  dining  room  was  decorated 
with  the  national  colors  of  Great  Britain  and 
the  United  States,  and  the  tables  made  gay  with 
small  flags  of  both  nations  at  each  diner's  plate. 
During  his  stirring  peroration  Mr.  Morley  waved 
these  small  emblems  and  expressed  eloquently  the 

[73] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

desire  of  the  British  government  and  people  that 
these  flags  should  always  float  together  in  amity 
and  good  will  and  for  the  promotion  of  peace 
throughout  the  world. 

Another  event  deserving  mention  here  is  that 
the  Club  grieved  with  the  nation  over  the  death  of 
John  Hay,  Secretary  of  State,  and  had  the  added 
grief  that  it  was  thus  deprived  of  the  opportunity 
to  hear  the  Secretary's  voice.  He  was  to  have  been 
the  guest  of  the  Merchants  Club  just  at  that  time, 
to  speak  on  Franklin's  diplomatic  mission  to 
France,  for  which  address  he  had  made  most  pro- 
found and  careful  study.  It  was  finished  and  ready 
for  delivery — one  of  the  best  efforts  of  this  brilliant 
essayist  and  speaker — but  his  illness  and  death 
prevented.  Afterwards  it  was  published  in  one  of 
the  leading  magazines — Scribner's  or  the  Century 
— with  the  statement  that  it  was  intended  for  the 
Merchants  Club.  It  is  included,  also,  in  Hay's 
published  works.  But  for  the  invitation  of  the 
Merchants  Club  that  essay  never  would  have 
been  written. 


[74] 


CHARLES  H.  WACKER 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

1905-6 

President Charles  H.  Wacker 

Vice-President      ....   Frank  H.  Armstrong 

Treasurer David  R.  Forgan 

Secretary Charles  D.  Norton 

Executive  Committee 

Theodore  W.  Robinson     Granger  Farwell, 
Alfred  L.  Baker,  Louis  A.  Ferguson, 

John  R.  Morron,  Charles  G.  Dawes. 

Reception  Committee 
Theodore  W.  Robinson,  Chairman. 
Charles  H.  Thorne,          James  Gamble  Rogers, 
Arthur  D.  Wheeler,          Albert  A.  Sprague  II. 

Lake  Bluff  Naval  Training  Station  Committee 

Walter  H.  Wilson,  Chairman. 
Frederic  W.  Upham,        John  R.  Morron, 
Harold  F.  McCormick,     Alfred  L.  Baker. 
Charles  H.  Wacker. 

Charter  Revenue  Committee 

Walter  H.  Wilson,  Chairman. 

Frederic  W.  Upham,        Edward  B.  Butler, 

Arthur  D.  Wheeler,          Bernard  E.  Sunny. 

Committee  in  Charge  Visiting  Chicago 's 

Industries 

Edward  F.  Carry,  Chairman. 
Medill  McCormick,          Albert  A.  Sprague  II, 
Hiram  R.  McCullough,    Samuel  Insull, 
Harold  F.  McCormick. 

[75] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

Educational  Committee 
Arthur  D.  Wheeler,  Chairman. 
Joseph  T.  Bowen,  Harry  G.  Selfridge, 

Benjamin  Carpenter,     Charles  L.  Bartlett, 
Walter  B.  Smith,  Rensselaer  W.  Cox, 

Harold  F.  McCormick,  Thomas  E.  Donnelley 
Joseph  E.  Otis,  John  F.  Harris, 

Allen  B.  Pond,  Hugh  J.  McBirney, 

Clayton  Mark,  Frank  B.  Noyes. 

High-School  Scholarship  Committee 

Granger  Farwell,  Chairman. 
John  R.  Morron,  Frank  H.  Armstrong, 

Charles  H.  Wacker,       Albert  J.  Earling. 

Small  Parks  Committee 

Frederick  Greeley,  Chairman. 

Clarence  Buckingham,  Allen  B.  Pond. 

Lake  Front  Park  Committee 

Alex.  A.  McCormick,  Chairman. 
Walter  H.  Wilson,          Edgar  A.  Bancroft, 
Bernard  A.  Eckhart,      Charles  H.  Thorne. 

New  Charter  Committee 
Alexander  H.  Revell,  Chairman. 
Edward  B.  Butler,  Bernard  E.  Sunny. 

Street  Cleaning  Committee 

David  R.  Forgan,  Harry  G.  Selfridge, 

Alexander  H.  Revell,     John  R.  Morron, 
Frank  H.  Armstrong. 

[76] 


CHARLES  D.  NORTON 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

1906-7 

President Charles  D.  Norton 

V ice-President John  R.  Morron 

Treasurer Willian  E.  Clow 

Secretary Thomas  E.  Donnelley 

Executive  Committee 

Charles  H.  Wacker,       Frederic  A.  Delano, 
Louis  A.  Ferguson,         Charles  R.  Crane, 
Charles  G.  Dawes,         Arthur  D.  Wheeler. 

Reception  Committee 

Arthur  D.  Wheeler,  Chairman. 
Edward  F.  Carry,  Francis  C.  Farwell, 

John  F.  Harris,  John  W.  Scott. 

Educational  Committee 

Theodore  W.  Robinson,  Chairman, 
Clayton  Mark,  Bernard  E.  Sunny, 

John  R.  Morron,  Frederic  W.  Upham. 

John  E.  Wilder. 

Committee  on  Visiting  Chicago  Industries 

Edward  F.  Carry,  Chairman. 
Harold  F.  McCormick,  W.  Vernon  Booth, 
Samuel  Insull,  Hiram  R.  McCullough. 

Waterways   Committee 

Clyde  M.  Carr,  Chairman. 
Walter  B.  Smith,  Rensselaer  W.  Cox. 

[77] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

City  Plan  Committee 

Chairman Charles  D.  Norton 

Vice-Chairman     ....     Charles  H.  Wacker 

Treasurer David  R.  Forgan 

Chairman  Finance  Committee  .  Walter  H.  Wilson 
Edward  B.  Butler,  Frederic  A.  Delano 

Committee  on  Boulevard  Link  to  Connect  North 
and  South  Sides 

Charles  H.  Wacker,  Chairman. 
Frederic  W.  Upham,    Albert  A.  Sprague  II, 
Clyde  M.  Carr,  Louis  A.  Ferguson. 

Lake  Bluff  Naval  Training  Station  Committee 

Walter  H.  Wilson,  Chairman. 
Frederic  W.  Upham,    Harold  F.  McCormick, 
John  R.  Morron,  Alfred  L.  Baker. 


78] 


/t'ws/'e/. 


.  ^siorrorts, 


<7 


j 


CATALOGUE  OF  MEETINGS 


THE  activities  of  the  Club  are  indicated,  but 
only  indicated,  by  the  list  of  subjects  dis- 
cussed at  its  meetings.  The  word  activities  is 
used  advisedly,  for  the  Merchants  was  an  active 
club.  Its  members  were  in  the  heyday  of  youth 
and  energy,  eager  to  undertake  any  enterprise 
that  would  seem  for  the  good  of  the  community 
and  for  the  credit  of  their  organization.  Certain 
of  the  subjects  were  discussed  in  many  meetings, 
open  and  private.  A  full  list  of  the  subjects  before 
the  open  meetings  is  here  given,  and  a  fairly  com- 
plete list  of  speakers,  but  there  has  been  no  attempt 
to  list  the  speakers  at  the  closed  meetings. 

Following  this  are  dissertations  on  some  of  the 
more  important  things  that  stand  to  the  credit  of 
the  Merchants  Club,  prepared  by  men  who  were 
most  intimately  connected  with  the  movements 
of  which  they  write, — and  of  course  they  speak 
with  authority. 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB 
LIST  OF  MEETINGS  AND  SUBJECTS 

1897-1898 

JOHN  V.  FARWELL,  Jr.,  President. 

February  6,  1897,  Auditorium  Hotel. 
Subject:    The  needs  of  a  great  city. 

Speakers:  Washington  Hesing,  D.  H.  Burnham,  Mayor  George  B. 
Swift,  William  Kent,  Rev.  S.  J.  McPherson,  and  John  J.  Glessner. 

March  7,  1897,  Auditorium  Hotel. 

Subject:     The  primary  election  law. 

Speakers:  Horace  S.  Oakley,  Lawrence  Y.  Sherman,  Chairman  of 
the  Committee  on  Elections;  Judge  John  Barton  Payne;  Alderman 
John  Maynard  Harlan,  and  Rev.  Frank  M.  Bristol. 

April  3,  1897,  Auditorium  Hotel. 

Subject:    The  improvement  of  the  south  shore. 

Speakers:  D.  H.  Burnham,  Ferd  W.  Peck,  Dunlap  Smith,  Harry 
G.  Selfridge,  and  Walter  H.  Wilson. 

May  1,  1897. 

Subject:    Is  a  municipal  party  desirable? 

Speakers:  David  B.  Jones,  A.  D.  Pbilpot,  Samuel  B.  Raymond, 
and  Lawrence  E.  McGann. 

November  6, 1897,  Auditorium  Hotel. 
Subject:    Postal  savings  banks. 

Speakers:  Henry  Sherman  Boutell  and  George  E.  Foss,  members 
of  the  House  of  Representatives  from  Illinois;  E.  S.  Lacey,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Bankers'  National  Bank;  Charles  U.  Gordon.  Post- 
master, and  Rev.  E.  M.  Stires. 

December  4,  1897,  Chicago  Club.    Attendance,  26  members,  no  guests. 
Closed  meeting. 

[81] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

January  8,  1898,  Auditorium  Hotel. 

Subject:     The  proposed  new  revenue  law. 

Speakers:  Charles  E.  Selby  and  Isaac  Miller  Hamilton,  members 
Illinois  Legislature;  John  P.  Wilson,  and  Dunlap  Smith. 

February  5,  1898,  Wellington  Hotel. 

Subject:     The  coming  aldermanic  elections. 

Speakers:    John  V.  Farwell,  Jr.,  Judge  Murray  F.  Tuley,  Aldermen 

Charles  M.  Walker,  Henry  S.  Fitch,  and  Walter  C.  Nelson; 

Ex-Alderman   William  Kent,   and  George   E.    Cole,    President 

Municipal  Voters'  League. 

March  12,  1898,  Auditorium  Hotel. 
Subject:    The  mayor's  cabinet. 

Speakers:  President  John  V.  Farwell,  Jr.,  Josiah  Quincy,  mayor 
of  Boston;  John  C.  Cobb,  of  Boston;  Judge  C.  C.  Kohlsaat,  and 
Edgar  A.  Bancroft. 

April  8,  1898,  Grand  Pacific  Hotel. 
Annual  closed  meeting. 

President  John  V.  Farwell,  Jr.,  submitted  his  report  of  the  work  of 
the  Club  during  the  fiscal  year.  Election  of  officers. 


[82 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 
1898-1899 

HARRY  G.  SELFRIDGE,  President. 

November  12,  1898,  Grand  Pacific  Hotel.    Attendance,  66  members  and 

guests. 
Subject:    Advantages  to  be  gained  by  Chicago  and  the  Northwest 

from  territorial  expansion. 

Speakers:  Stuyvesant  Fish,  of  New  York;  William  E.  Curtis,  of 
Washington;  Henry  S.  Boutell,  and  H.  P.  Judson. 

December  10,  1898,  Grand  Pacific  Hotel. 

Subject:     A  permanent  exposition  building  in  Chicago. 

Speakers:  H.  N.  Higinbotham,  Otto  Young,  Charles  Truax,  Robert 
A.  Waller,  City  Comptroller;  Charles  L.  Hutchinson,  Frank  H. 
Cooper,  Dr.  N.  D.  Hillis,  Volney  W.  Foster,  Frank  O.  Lowden, 
William  J.  Wilson,  Professor  Graham  Taylor,  A.  J.  Earling, 
Dr.  William  R.  Harper,  John  V.  Farwell,  Jr.,  and  Thomas  B. 
Bryan. 

January  14,  1899,  Grand  Pacific  Hotel. 

Subject:    Provident  Fawners'  Societies. 

Speakers:  Joseph  W.  Errant,  The  situation  in  Chicago;  N.  A.  Part- 
ridge, European  pawnshops;  Charles  E.  Kremer,  The  legal  phases; 
R.  M.  Bissell,  From  a  club  member's  point  of  view;  Rev.  C.  M. 
Morton,  A  personal  experience  in  a  pawnshop. 

February  11,  1899,  Grand  Pacific  Hotel. 

Subject:     Our  trade  relations  with  Canada. 

Speakers:  President  Harry  G.  Selfridge,  Hon.  John  Charlton,  member 
Canadian  Parliament;  and  James  H.  Eckels. 

March  11,  1899,  Grand  Pacific  Hotel.  Attendance,  62  members  and  guests. 
Subject:    Greater  Chicago. 
Speakers :    John  Barton  Payne,  Sigmund  Zeisler,  Judge  C.  C.  Kohlsaat, 

Judge  Elbridge  Hanecy,  Charles  S.  Cutting,  and  Representative 

John  R.  Newcomer. 

April  8,  1899,  Grand  Pacific  Hotel. 
Annual  closed  meeting. 
Revision  of  by-laws  and  election  of  officers. 


[83] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 
1899-1900 

EDGAR  A.  BANCROFT,  President. 

November  11,  1899,  Grand  Pacific  Hotel.    Attendance,  115  members  and 

guests. 

Subject:    Small  parks  and  playgrounds. 
Speakers:    Jacob  A.  Riis,  of  New  York;  Richard  M.  Bissell,  Benjamin 

S.  Terry,  and  Alderman  Robert  K.  Griffith. 

December  9,  1899,  Grand  Pacific  Hotel.    Attendance,  60  members  and 

guests. 

Subject:    A  Mills  lodging  house  for  Chicago. 

Speakers:  John  Lloyd  Thomas,  superintendent  of  the  Mills  Hotels, 
New  York;  and  John  H.  Bogue,  chairman  of  the  lodging-house 
committee  of  the  Improved  Housing  Association  of  Chicago. 

January  13,  1900,  Grand  Pacific  Hotel. 
Closed  meeting. 

Revised  by-laws  adopted.  Addresses  made  by  Rollin  A.  Keyes,  Fred. 
W.  Upham,  Graeme  Stewart,  and  Alexander  H.  Revell. 

February  10,  1900,  Grand  Pacific  Hotel.  Attendance,  39  members,  37 
guests. 

Subject:    The  national  bankruptcy  law. 

Speakers:  Hon.  J.  P.  Dolliver,  member  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives from  Iowa,  and  W.  A.  Prendergast,  of  New  York,  secretary 
of  the  National  Association  of  Credit  Men. 

March  10,  1900,  Grand  Pacific  Hotel.   Attendance,  34  members,  46  guests. 
Subject:    The  reorganization  of  the  consular  service. 
Speakers:     Hon.  Robert  Adams  and  Hon.  E.  W.  S.  Tingle. 

April  14,  1900,  University  Club.   Attendance,  37  members. 
Annual  closed  meeting. 


84 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 
^  1900-1901 

HERMON  B.  BUTLER,  President. 

November  10,  1900.  Grand  Pacific  Hotel. 

Subject:    Municipal  ownership  of  public  utilities. 

Speakers:    Professor  Edmund  J.  James  and  Colonel  E.  R.  Bliss. 

December  8, 1900,  Grand  Pacific  Hotel. 

Subject:  Use  of  the  streets  of  the  city  for  the  transportation  of  the 
people:  Conditions  upon  which  franchises  should  be  granted  to 
private  corporations. 

Speakers:  G.  E.  Hooker,  Hon.  Milton  J.  Foreman,  and  George  E. 
Cole. 

January  19, 1901,  Grand  Pacific  Hotel. 

Subject:    The  use  of  public  school  buildings  as  neighborhood  social 

centers. 
Speakers:    Rev.  T.  E.  Sherman,  S.  J.;  Rev.  Frank  W.  Gunsaulus, 

R.  M.  Bissell,  and  Hon.  L.  Y.  Sherman. 

February  9,  1901,  Grand  Pacific  Hotel. 
Subject:    Commercial  high  schools. 
Speakers:    Professor  J.  W.  Jenks,  of  Cornell  University;  Edwin  G. 

Cooley,  superintendent  Chicago  public  schools;  John  G.  Shedd, 

John  V.  Farwell,  Jr.,  and  Edgar  G.  Barratt. 

March  9,  1901,  Chicago  Athletic  Club. 

Subject:    The  Negro  problem  in  the  South. 

Speakers:  Dr.  P.  B.  Barringer,  of  the  University  of  Virginia,  and 
Booker  T.  Washington,  of  Tuskegee  Institute. 

April  18,  1901,  Kinsley's.   Attendance,  45  members. 

Annual  closed  meeting. 

Reports  of  committees.  Short  addresses  by  H.  B.  Butler,  A.  T.  Aldis, 
E.  A.  Bancroft,  William  Kent,  J.  V.  Farwell,  Jr.,  Frederick  Greeley 
Dunlap  Smith,  A.  A.  McCormick,  Robert  Mather,  Granger 
Farwell,  H.  G.  Selfridge,  and  B.  E.  Sunny. 

Election  of  officers  and  appointment  of  committees. 


[85 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 
1901-1902 

RICHARD  M.  BISSELL,  President. 

November  9, 1901,  Auditorium  Hotel.  Attendance,  70  members  and  guests. 
Subject:    Financial  and  industrial  combinations. 
Speakers:    Hon.  Carroll  D.  Wright,  U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Labor, 
and  Judge  James  B.  Dill,  of  New  York. 

December  14, 1901,  Kinsley's.     Attendance,  75  members  and  guests. 

Subject:     Citizens'  organizations  for  better  government. 

Speakers:  Francis  C.  Huntington,  of  the  Citizens'  Union  of  New 
York;  Walter  L.  Fisher,  secretary  Municipal  Voters'  League  of 
Chicago;  and  George  E.  Cole,  President  Citizens'  Association 
of  Chicago. 

January  11,  1902,  Kinsley's.    Attendance,  89  members  and  guests. 
Subject:    The  infallibility  of  the  press. 

Speakers:  Melville  E.  Stone,  president  Associated  Press;  Roswell 
M.  Field,  Slason  Thompson,  and  John  T.  McCutcheon. 

February  15,  1902,  Kinsley's.    Attendance,  75  members  and  guests. 
Subject:    Limitations  of  liberty. 

Speakers:  The  Rt.  Rev.  John  Ireland,  Archbishop  of  Minnesota; 
Professor  George  E.  Vincent,  of  the  University  of  Chicago. 

March  8,  1902,  Kinsley's.    Attendance,  65  members  and  guests. 
Subject:    The  reclaiming  of  criminals. 
Speakers:    Mrs.  Maud  Ballington  Booth  and  Miss  Jane  Addams. 

April  12,  1902,  Kinsley's.   Attendance,  45  members. 
Annual  closed  meeting. 

Reports  of  committees,  election  of  officers,  and  appointment  of  com- 
mittees. 


[86] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 
1902-1903 

ALEXANDER  A.  McCORMICK,  President. 

November  8,  1902,  Auditorium  Hotel.  Attendance,  41  members,  29  guests. 

Subject:  Labor  unions  in  relation  to  modern  industrial  and  com- 
mercial progress. 

Speakers:  David  B.  Jones,  president  of  Commercial  Club,  Chicago, 
and  Thomas  I.  Kidd,  vice-president  of  the  American  Federation 
of  Labor. 

December  13,   1902,  Auditorium  Hotel.     Attendance,  45  members,  20 

guests. 

Subject:    The  necessity  for  a  state  civil  service  law. 
Speakers:    Joseph  Powell,  Henry  G.  Foreman,  Frank  H.  Scott,  and 
Edgar  A.  Bancroft. 

January  10,  1903,  Auditorium  Hotel.    Attendance,  37  members. 
Closed  meeting. 

February  14, 1903,  Auditorium  Hotel.   Attendance,  41  members,  28  guests. 
Subject:    The  Lake  Front  Park. 

Speakers:    Daniel  H.  Burnham,  Dr.  Frank  W.  Gunsaulus,  John  H. 
Hamline,  Bryan  Lathrop,  and  Daniel  F.  Crilly. 

March  14,  1903,  Auditorium  Hotel.    Attendance,  33  members,  21  guests. 
Subject:     Some  things  Chicago  has  reason  to  be  proud  of. 
Speakers:    Emil  G.  Hirsch,  Dr.  Graham  Taylor,  C.  Norman  Fay, 

William  S.  Jackson,  E.  G.  Cooley,  Frank  H.  Scott,  Walter  L. 

Fisher,  W.  M.  R.  French,  J.  B.  Riddle,  and  Allen  B.  Pond. 

April  11,  1903,  Auditorium  Hotel.    Attendance,  27  members. 
Annual  closed  meeting. 

Reports  of  officers  and  committees,  election  and  installation  of  officers, 
and  appointment  of  committees. 

June  17,  1903,  Club  guests  of  Mr.  Alfred  L.  Baker  at  Onwentsia  Club, 

Lake  Forest,  111.    Attendance,  41  members. 
Special  meeting. 


87 


1903-1904 

WALTER  H.  WILSON,  President. 

December  12,   1903,  Auditorium  Hotel.     Attendance,   50  members,   70 

guests. 
Subject:    Chicago  and  our  country.   What  shall  it  profit  us  if  we  gain 

the  whole  world  and  lose  our  own  souls? 
Speaker:    Judge  Peter  S.  Grosscup. 

January  9,  1904,  Auditorium  Hotel.   Attendance,  62  members,  132  guests. 

Subject:    Police  administration. 

Speakers :  Chicago  police  as  seen  by  criminals,  Frank  Willard  ("Josiah 
Flint");  Police  organization  and  discipline,  Captain  Alexander 
R.  Piper,  of  New  York  City;  City  courts,  Common  Justice  for 
all  of  us,  William  Travers  Jerome,  district  attorney  of  New  York 
City. 

February  18,  1904,  Auditorium  Hotel,  and  at  Washington  School,  Erie 
and  Morgan  streets.  Attendance,  34  members,  34  guests. 

After  inspection  of  the  Washington  school  the  Club  dined  and  heard 
reports  of  educational  committee. 

Speakers:  Edwin  G.  Cooley,  superintendent  of  schools;  W.  J.  Bogan, 
principal  of  Washington  school;  Joseph  T.  Bo  wen,  chairman  west 
division  educational  committee  of  Merchants  Club;  Allan  B.  Pond, 
chairman  O'Toole  school  committee;  Granger  Farwell,  chairman  ed- 
ucational committee;  James  Gamble  Rogers,  chairman  Washington 
school  committee- 
March  12,  1904,  Auditorium  Hotel.  Attendance,  43  members,  101  guests. 

Subject:    Some  problems  and  policies  of  the  new  department. 

Speakers:  Hon.  George  B.  Cortelyou,  Secretary  of  the  Department 
of  Commerce  and  Labor;  Brigadier-General  Frederick  Dent  Grant. 

April  8,  1904,  Auditorium  Hotel.   Attendance,  42  members. 
Annual  closed  meeting. 

Reports  of  committees,  election  of  officers,  and  appointment  of  com- 
mittees. 

June  14,  1904.    Visit  to  Illinois  Telephone  and  Telegraph  Company's 
tunnel. 


88] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB   OF  CHICAGO 

July  14,  1904,  Chicago  Club.   Attendance,  150  members  and  guests. 

Special  meeting  in  honor  of  Secretary  Paul  Morton,  of  the  Navy 

Department. 
Subjects    and    Speakers:    The   President   of    the   United    States — 

Shelby  M.  Cullom,  United  States  Senator. 
The  Navy — George  E.  Foss,  chairman  committee  on  naval  affairs, 

House  of  Representatives. 
As  the  Spirit  Moves — Joseph  G.  Cannon,  Speaker  of  the  House  of 

Representatives. 

Our  Guest — Mr.  Edward  D.  Kenna. 
Response — Secretary  Paul  Morton. 


[89] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 
1904-1905 

ALFRED  L.   BAKER,  President. 

November  8,  1904,  Auditorium  Hotel.    Attendance,  150  members  and 

guests. 

Subject:    American   elections. 
Speakers:    Right  Honorable  John  Morley,  M.  P.;  John  Wanamaker, 

Edgar  A.  Bancroft,  Frank  H.  Jones. 

November  26,  1904.  Joint  meeting  with  the  Commercial  Club. 

December  10,  1904,  Auditorium.   Attendance,  45  members. 
Closed  meeting. 
Reports  of  committees  on  Merchants  Club  bill  for  regulation  of  "Loan 

Sharks;"  Citizens'  street  cleaning  bureau;  educational  committee; 

naval  training  station. 
Speakers:    John  V.  Farwell,  Jr.,  Edgar  A.  Bancroft,  Graeme  Stewart, 

David  R.  Forgan,  Frank  H.  Armstrong,  Joseph  T.  Bowen,  Joseph 

E.  Otis. 

January  14, 1905,  Auditorium  Hotel.  Attendance,  140  members  and  guests. 

Subjects  and  Speakers:  The  Chicago  Commercial  Association — John 
G.  Shedd. 

The  great  lakes  as  a  factor  in  transportation  facilities — William  L. 
Brown. 

Chicago  as  a  financial  center — David  R.  Forgan. 

Chicago  as  a  manufacturing  center — John  R.  Morron. 

The  public  schools — E.  G.  Cooley. 

Art  and  music — Charles  L.  Hutchinson. 

The  spirit  of  progress  and  Chicago's  new  charter — A.  M.  Compton, 
chairman  ways  and  means  committee  Chicago  Commercial  Asso- 
ciation. 

January  28,  1905.  Visit  to  South  Works.  Illinois  Steel  Company. 

February  18,  1905,  Kinsley's. 

Subjects  and  Speakers:    Commercial  and  political  integrity — John 

A.  Johnson,  Governor  of  Minnesota. 
Competition  or  Socialism,  Which? — Albert  B.  Cummins,  Governor  of 

Iowa. 

[90] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

March  18,  1905,  Auditorium  Hotel.  Attendance,  41  members,  25  Com- 
mercial members,  17  guests. 

Joint  meeting  with  the  Commercial  Club. 

Subject:    Street  Paving  and  Street  Cleaning. 

Speakers:  John  W.  Alvord,  C.  E.;  Richard  T.  Fox,  Manager  Citizens 
Street  Cleaning  Bureau;  Charles  H.  Wacker,  Dr.  Albion  W.  Small. 

April  3,  1905.    Closed  meeting.    Attendance  48  members. 

April  22,  1905,  Auditorium  Hotel.  Attendance,  48  members. 
Annual  closed  meeting. 
Reports  of  officers  and  committees,  election  of  officers  and  committees. 

May  10,  1905,  Auditorium  Hotel,  at  1  o'clock  p.m.  Attendance,  160  mem- 
bers and  guests. 

Special  meeting.  Luncheon  in  honor  of  Theodore  Roosevelt,  President 
of  the  United  States. 

October  11,  1905.    Attendance,  41  members. 

Special  meeting.  Dinner  at  Onwentsia  Club  at  Lake  Forest  as  the 
guests  of  Mr.  Alfred  L.  Baker. 


[91] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 
1905-1906 

CHARLES  H.  WACKER,  President. 

November  11,  1905,  Auditorium  Hotel.    Attendance,  132  members  and 

guests. 

Subject :    Our  trade  relations  with  China. 
Speaker:    Sir  Chentung  Liang-Cheng,  His  Imperial  Chinese  Majesty's 

Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary. 

December  5,  1905.  Visit  to  works  of  the  Pullman  Palace  Car  Company. 
Attendance,  34  members. 

December  9, 1905,  Auditorium  Hotel.  Attendance,  166  members  and  guests. 
Subject:    The  old  navy  and  the  new. 
Speakers:    General  Horace  Porter  and  Admiral  Dewey. 

January  13,   1906,  Auditorium  Hotel.     Attendance,   100  members  and 

guests. 
Subjects  and  Speakers:    The  national  forest  service — Hon.  Gifford 

Pinchot,  forester. 
Is  forestry  practicable — Mr.  Nelson  W.  McLeod,  president  National 

Lumber  Manufacturers'  Association. 

February  18,  1906  (held  in  Caf6  de  Chapultepec,  City  of  Mexico).  Attend- 
ance, 48  members  and  guests,  many  of  whom  were  from  the  City 
of  Mexico 

Speakers:  Mr.  Alfred  L.  Baker,  Sr.  Senator  Jose  Castellot,  Mr.  Robert 
Mather,  Sr.  Don  Sebastian  Camacho,  and  Mr.  Arthur  D.  Wheeler. 

February  27,  1906,  Auditorium  Hotel,  Attendance,  56  members.  Special 
meeting.  Dinner  tendered  by  President  Charles  H.  Wacker  to 
Mr.  Robert  Mather  on  return  of  the  Mexican  party. 

March  10,  1906,  Auditorium  Hotel.  Attendance,  132  members  and  guests. 
Subject:    The  ethics  of  corporate  management. 
Speaker:    Charles  W.  Eliot,  LL.D.,  President  of  Harvard  University. 

May  5,  1906,  Auditorium  Hotel. 
Annual  closed  meeting. 
Reports  of  officers  and  committees,  election  of  officers  and  committees. 

[92] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 
1906-1907 

CHARLES  D.  NORTON,  President. 

November  10,  1906,  Auditorium  Hotel. 
Subject:  Canada  and  reciprocity. 
Speaker:  James  J.  Hill,  president  Great  Northern  Railway  Company. 

December  8, 1906,  Auditorium  Hotel. 

Subject:    Public  schools  and  their  administration. 

Speakers:  Theodore  W.  Robinson;  Edward  C.  Eliot,  ex-chairman 
Board  of  Education  of  St.  Louis,  Mo.;  James  J.  Storrow,  president 
Board  of  Education  of  Boston,  Mass.;  Nicholas  Murray  Butler, 
president  Columbia  University,  New  York. 

January  26,  1907,  Auditorium  Hotel.  Attendance,  53  Merchants,  35  Com- 
mercial members.  No  guests  except  speakers. 

Closed  joint  meeting  with  Commercial  Club. 

Speakers:  Theodore  P.  Shonts,  chairman  Isthmian  Canal  Commission; 
William  J.  Calhoun,  Envoy  of  the  United  States  to  Venezuela. 

February  9,  1907,  Auditorium  Hotel. 

Closed  meeting.  (Last  meeting  of  the  Merchants  Club.) 
Speakers:  Charles  D.  Norton,  John  R.  Morron,  Arthur  T.  Aldis, 
Alfred  L.  Baker,  Edgar  A.  Bancroft,  Richard  M.  Bissell,  Frederic 
A.  Delano,  John  V.  Farwell,  Jr.,  David  R.  Forgan,  Frederick 
Greeley,  Frank  H.  Jones,  William  Kent,  Alexander  A.  McCormick, 
Paul  Morton,  Edwin  A.  Potter,  Theodore  W.  Robinson,  John  G. 
Shedd,  Charles  H.  Wacker,  Arthur  D.  Wheeler,  Walter  H.  Wilson. 

Special  and  closed  meetings  were  held  in  October  19,  November  1, 
December  13,  and  December  18,  1906,  with  35  to  40  members 
in  attendance  at  each,  and  on  January  26,  1907  with  41  members 
present,  all  at  Union  League  Club,  principally  for  discussion 
of  the  proposed  union  with  the  Commercial  Club. 


[93] 


The  Merchants  Club's  first  Committee  on  City  Plan,  1906-07, 
was  Charles  D.  Norton,  Chairman;  Charles  H.  Wacker,  Vice- 
Chairman;  David  R.  Forgan,  Treasurer;  Walter  H.  Wilson,  Chair- 
man Finance  division;  Edward  B.  Butler,  Frederic  A.  Delano. 

Daniel  H.  Burnham  was  Architect  in  Chief,  Edward  H.  Bennett, 
Assistant. 

The  original  Chicago  Plan  Commission  was  appointed  by  Mayor 
Busse  in  November,  1909,  and  consisted  of  more  than  three  hundred 
persons,  aldermen  and  citizens,  nearly  twenty  per  cent  of  whom 
were  taken  from  the  Commercial  Club.  Charles  H.  Wacker  was 
the  first  Chairman  of  the  Commission  and  has  continued  its  chair- 
man ever  since,  serving  with  rare  ability  and  devotion,  doing 
everything  possible  for  an  executive  that  the  Commission's  work 
should  be  done  wisely,  economically,  speedily  and  thoroughly. 


DANIEL  HUDSON  BURNHAM 

Architect,  dreamer,  planner. 

In  art,  a  man  of  imagination  and  wide  vision  and  enthusiasm. 
In  practical  affairs,  a  man  of  intense  force  and  sound  judgment. 
Died  June,  1912,  aged  66  years. 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB 

AND 
THE  PLAN  OF  CHICAGO 

By  CHARLES  D.  NORTON 

THE  Plan  of  Chicago  began  when  the  first 
cave  man  felled  a  tree  across  a  stream.  It 
began  in  1893,  in  the  epoch-making  World's  Fair, 
when  Edward  B.  Butler's  Committee  of  Chicago 
business  men  and  a  national  group  of  architects 
and  artists,  led  by  Daniel  H.  Burnham  and  John 
W.  Root,  for  the  first  time  in  America  learned 
to  work  together  as  men  of  affairs  and  artists  in  a 
great  common  effort,  just  as  similar  groups  worked 
together  in  ancient  Greece  and  Rome,  and  in  the 
Italian  cities  of  the  Renaissance.  It  began  in  1895, 
when,  as  a  direct  result  of  the  World's  Fair, 
Burnham  developed  his  brilliant  Lake  Front  Park 
scheme,  for  Mr.  James  W.  Ellsworth,  President  of 
the  South  Park  Board.  Burnham  tried  to  induce 
first  the  Commercial  Club,  then  the  Merchants 
Club,  to  develop  this  scheme,  an  effort  that  was 
unsuccessful  in  those  dark  years  of  panic  and 
reaction  that  followed  the  World's  Fair. 

For  myself  the  Plan  of  Chicago  began  in  1901, 
one  late  summer  afternoon,  on  the  porch  of 
Augustus  Saint  Gaudens'  house  at  Cornish,  New 
Hampshire,  where  my  wife  and  I  were  paying  a 

[95] 


visit.  Saint  Gaudens  came  up  from  his  studio  for 
tea  after  a  hard  day's  work,  and  he  entranced  us 
all  by  his  glowing  vision  of  what  he  and  Burnham, 
McKim  and  Olmsted  hoped  to  accomplish  in 
restoring  and  developing  L'Enfant's  Plan  of 
Washington.  He  exacted  a  promise  from  me  of 
active  effort  with  certain  refractory  Illinois  Con- 
gressmen, who,  among  others  in  Washington,  were 
threatening  to  place  the  new  Agricultural  Building 
athwart  the  Mall  in  a  way  to  ruin  L'Enfant's  Plan. 
That  was  the  beginning  of  my  interest  in  City 
Planning.  In  the  effort  to  fulfil  my  promise  to  Saint 
Gaudens  I  found  a  new  and  fascinating  hobby. 

Frederic  A.  Delano  had  long  been  at  work  on 
his  masterful  analysis  of  Chicago's  railway  terminal 
problem,  which  he  published  later  (1904).  As 
intimate  friends  we  developed  our  common  interest 
in  City  Planning  together,  and  in  September,  1902, 
with  Walter  Wilson,  we  asked  Mr.  Burnham's 
approval  of  a  project  to  have  the  Merchants  Club 
give  a  dinner  to  the  Washington  commission — 
Burnham,  McKim,  Saint  Gaudens  and  Olmsted — 
with  a  view  to  developing  in  Illinois  possible 
support  for  the  revival  of  the  L'Enfant  Plan  of 
Washington,  but,  because  of  the  delicate  political 
situation  in  Washington  at  the  moment,  Mr. 
Burnham  vetoed  this  proposed  dinner  as  inex- 
pedient, and  the  matter  was  dropped.  I  discussed 
these  matters  a  great  deal  with  Edward  B.  Butler, 
the  valiant  leader  in  the  long  fight  to  win  back  for 
the  people  their  lost  Lake  Front,  and  we  were  all 

[96] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

gradually  convincing  ourselves  that  Chicago  need- 
ed a  City  Plan.  In  1905,  at  a  joint  dinner  of  the 
Commercial  Club  and  the  Merchants  Club,  Mr. 
Butler  made  a  brief  but  stirring  plea  for  a  great 
City  Plan. 

It  was  our  sense  of  responsibility  as  Merchants 
Club  men  that  finally  brought  action.  The  Mer- 
chants Club  exerted  a  unique  and  powerful  influ- 
ence over  its  sixty  members,  young  men  all,  and 
truly  representative  of  all  the  varied  business 
interests  of  Chicago.  When  a  man  was  asked  to 
join  the  Merchants  Club  he  was  asked  quite  blunt- 
ly whether  or  not  he  would  respond  to  any  call  for 
public  service  at  the  Clubs'  command — whether 
he  would  give  not  merely  his  money  and  his 
influence,  but  himself.  If  he  accepted  election  he 
enlisted.  It  came  as  an  honor,  a  much  prized 
distinction,  a  call  and  an  opportunity  for  service 
with  a  powerful,  congenial,  inspiriting  group.  As 
a  result  presidents  of  railroads,  of  packing  houses, 
merchants  and  bankers  found  themselves  on  com- 
mittees charged  with  responsibility  for  the  opening 
of  schools  at  night  to  the  public,  for  organizing 
honest  pawn  shops,  for  cleaning  the  streets,  for  a 
score  of  projects,  to  all  of  which  they  gave  without 
stint  of  their  personal  time  and  strength,  as  well  as 
money,  and  when  a  man  found  himself  on  the 
Executive  Committee,  responsible  for  the  work 
program,  he  became  one  of  a  small  but  ambitious 
group  determined  to  make  that  particular  year 
a  great  year  for  the  Merchants  Club,  and  for 

[97] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

Chicago.    That  militant  spirit  was  the  soul  and 
the  life  of  the  Merchants  Club. 

In  1905  and  1906  Delano  and  I  were  active  on 
Merchants  Club  Committees,  and  the  Chicago  Plan 
scheme  began  to  take  definite  shape.  In  1906  we 
definitely  proposed  the  project  to  Mr.  Burnham. 
He  felt  certain  scruples  about  enlisting  with  us 
because  in  1897  he  had  presented  the  Lake  Front 
improvement  scheme  to  his  own  Club,  the  Com- 
mercial Club,  and  having  had  enthusiastic  support 
for  that  project  from  a  Committee  of  which 
Franklin  MacVeagh  was  chairman,  he  felt  that 
he  must  consult  Mr.  MacVeagh  before  enlisting 
with  the  Merchants  Club  in  a  project  for  a  City- 
wide  Plan  of  Chicago.  After  a  considerable  delay, 
on  July  6,  1906,  he  wrote  me: 

"Dear  Mr.  Norton:  The  enclosed  copy  of  a  letter 
from  Mr.  MacVeagh  to  me  removes  the  objection  I 
had  to  taking  up  the  work  you  mentioned,  and  I  am 
now  ready  whenever  you  are. 

Yours  sincerely, 

DANIEL  H.  BURNHAM." 

We  promptly  called  a  luncheon  meeting  of  the 
Merchants  Club  at  the  Union  League  Club,  and 
asked  for  pledges  to  a  $20,000  fund,  in  happy 
ignorance  of  the  fact  that  we  really  needed  $300,- 
000.  I  made  an  incoherent  but  earnest  effort  to 
expound  the  doctrine  of  comprehensive  City 
Planning,  and  I  remember  Charles  Dawes*  pun- 
gent remark:  "I  don't  understand  what  it  is  that 

[98] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

Charlie  Norton  wants,  but  I'm  for  it  and  I'll 
subscribe";  and  so  did  everyone  else.  They 
subscribed  money,  and  they  subscribed  Merchants 
Club  spirit  and  encouragement. 

We  raced  over  to  tell  Burnham  to  begin,  that 
we  were  financed.  He  was  sitting  in  that  beautiful 
office,  high  up  in  the  Railway  Exchange  Building, 
where  for  three  years  thereafter  we  were  to  meet 
so  often.  He  was  gazing  out  over  the  lake  front, 
and  he  appeared  to  be  in  serious  distress.  "It  is 
wonderful,  Charles,"  he  said,  "but  I  am  afraid 
it  is  no  use.  My  doctor  has  just  been  here  to  tell 
me  that  I  have  a  mortal  disease — that  I  have  at 
most  three  years  to  live." 

There  was  an  embarrassed  and  painful  silence, 
and  then  I  blurted  out,  "But,  Mr.  Burnham, 
that  is  just  time  enough;  it  will  take  only  three 
years." 

Burnham  looked  startled,  then  he  broke  into  a 
laugh  and  said:  "You  are  right.  I  will  do  it." 
And  it  did  take  three  years,  in  which  Burnham 
contributed  freely  practically  all  of  his  time  and 
strength,  and  in  addition  made  substantial  con- 
tributions to  the  necessary  expenses  of  the  work. 
The  Plan  of  Chicago  was  finished  and  published 
July  4,  1909,  and  our  great  Planner  did  not  suc- 
cumb until  June  1,  1912.  I  firmly  believe  that 
his  joy  in  his  Plan  work  prolonged  his  life. 

So  much  for  the  inception  of  our  project.  Our 
first  Committee  consisted  of  Charles  D.  Norton, 
Chairman,  Charles  H.  Wacker,  Vice-Chairman, 

[99] 


THE   MERCHANTS   CLUB   OF   CHICAGO 

Walter  H.  Wilson,  Edward  B.  Butler,  Frederic 
A.  Delano  and  David  R.  Forgan,  Treasurer.  We 
gave  Burnham  a  free  hand,  and  he  swiftly  created 
a  staff  that  included  such  men  as  E.  H.  Bennett, 
Jules  Guerin,  Fernand  Janin.  We  met  at  Burn- 
ham's  office  at  luncheon  weekly  and  in  times  of 
stress  daily.  Frederic  Delano  was  Secretary,  and 
his  clerk,  John  Delamater,  was  our  faithful  scribe. 
I  do  not  know  when  Burnham  found  time  to  see 
his  partners  on  the  business  of  his  firm.  They  must 
have  lost  his  services  when  his  private  office 
became  the  headquarters  for  innumerable  City 
Plan  meetings. 

Our  first  half  year  was  practically  wasted  on  a 
scheme  to  develop  La  Salle  street  as  an  axis: 
to  make  a  square  at  La  Salle  and  Washington 
streets  opposite  the  proposed  new  Court  House  and 
City  Hall.  The  scheme  involved  removing  the 
Board  of  Trade  building,  and  other  huge  difficulties 
like  that,  and  we  were  speedily  lost  in  details. 
Burnham  was  the  first  to  recognize  the  error  of 
beginning  at  an  arbitrarily  located  centre,  instead 
of  at  the  circumference  of  the  whole  area,  and  then 
working  in  toward  the  true  and  logical  civic 
centre.  Drawing  on  our  office  wall  map  the  great 
Waukegan,  Elgin,  Aurora,  Gary,  Michigan  City 
circle,  he  sounded  this  bugle  blast: 

"Make  no  little  plans:  they  have  no  magic  to  stir 
men's  blood,  and  probably  themselves  will  not  be 
realized.  Make  big  plans;  aim  high  in  hope  and  work, 
remembering  that  a  noble,  logical  diagram  once  record- 

[100] 


THE   MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

ed  will  never  die,  but  long  after  we  are  gone  will  be  a 
living  thing,  asserting  itself  with  growing  intensity." 

This  was  for  all  of  us  the  beginning  of  correct 
thinking. 

There  is  no  way  to  interest  the  man  in  the  street 
in  a  City  Plan  for  a  community  of  millions  of  peo- 
ple unless  the  Plan  includes  all  of  the  area  in  which 
the  city  workers  live.  Men  and  women  are  inter- 
ested in  Plans  that  include  their  homes,  their  gar- 
dens, the  environment  in  which  they  and  their 
children  dwell.  When  we  went  out  to  that  circum- 
ference we  found  at  once  the  eleven  great  existing 
diagonals,  the  old  trails  and  country  roads  that  led 
originally  to  Fort  Dearborn:  the  Green  Bay  road, 
Milwaukee  avenue,  Blue  Island  avenue,  the 
"  Archey  road,"  etc.,  and  these  diagonals,  properly 
extended  to  new  encircling  streets,  with  a  broad- 
ened and  extended  Michigan  avenue  as  a  solid 
foundation,  quickly  became  the  framework  of  the 
Chicago  Plan.  We  found  that  we  already  possessed 
much  of  what  Haussman  created  in  Paris,  and 
that  we  needed  only  to  develop  our  assets  to  be 
rich ! 

We  were  fortunate  in  the  choice  of  our  first 
specific  project,  the  widening  of  Michigan  avenue 
and  extending  it  over  a  new  bridge  to  the  Water 
Tower  at  Chicago  avenue,  followed  closely  by 
the  Lake  Front  improvement,  the  Roosevelt  road, 
and  the  South  Water  street  improvement. 

The  chief  concern  of  Walter  Wilson  and  myself 
was  finance,  as  our  inadequate  fund  was  melting. 

[101] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

One  day  I  had  a  telegram  from  Mr.  H.  H.  Porter, 
then  living  in  retirement  at  Lake  Geneva,  asking 
me  to  come  and  discuss  with  him  the  Chicago 
Plan.  I  had  never  met  Mr.  Porter.  He  came  to  the 
station  in  his  yacht,  and  we  spent  three  hours  on 
board  while  he  poured  forth  words  of  encourage- 
ment. He  told  me  that  the  Plan  project  had 
stirred  his  highest  expectations  and  had  cheered 
his  old  age,  that  we  must  spend  money  boldly  and 
make  it  a  big  thing  indeed.  He  promised  to  give 
me  $10,000,  and  undertook  to  get  four  others  to 
do  the  same.  Mr.  Porter's  enthusiasm  came  as  a 
complete  surprise  at  a  critical  moment,  and  had 
much  to  do  with  the  adoption  of  bold  programs. 
It  greatly  heartened  Burnham. 

Those  were  happy  days.  Burnham  was  an 
inspiring  leader,  courageous,  patient,  wise  and 
strong.  When  in  1907  the  Merchants  Club  merged 
with  the  Commercial  Club,  as  the  Commercial 
Club  of  Chicago,  fresh  and  powerful  forces  joined 
our  committees  for  our  second  and  third  years 
of  work:  Edgar  A.  Bancroft,  Adolphus  C. 
Bartlett,  William  L.  Brown,  Benjamin  Carpenter, 
Clyde  M.  Carr,  Edward  F.  Carry,  Leslie  Carter, 
William  J.  Chalmers,  Charles  H.  Conover,  Charles 
G.  Dawes,  Thomas  E.  Donnelley,  John  V.  Farwell, 
James  L.  Houghteling,  Charles  H.  Hulburd, 
Charles  L.  Hutchinson,  Chauncey  Keep,  Rollin  A. 
Keyes,  Victor  F.  Lawson,  Franklin  MacVeagh, 
Cyrus  H.  McCormick,  Harold  F.  McCormick, 
»  John  J.  Mitchell,  Joy  Morton,  Martin  A.  Ryerson, 

[102] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

John  G.  Shedd,  Albert  A.  Sprague,  Homer  A. 
Stillwell,  Charles  L.  Strobel,  Charles  H.  Thorne 
and  Frederic  W.  Upham.  We  allocated  each 
project  to  a  sub-committee;  each  sub-committee 
fought  its  own  battles,  but  all  joined  forces  at  the 
inspiriting  meetings  at  luncheon  in  Burnham's 
office,  where  the  gospel  of  City  Planning  was 
expounded  almost  daily. 

Finally,  with  the  aid  of  Charles  Moore  as 
Editor,  on  July  4,  1909,  the  Commercial  Club 
published  the  Plan  of  Chicago,  that  "noble, 
logical  diagram"  which  "long  after  we  are  gone 
will  be  a  living  thing,  exerting  itself  with  growing 
intensity. " 

CHARLES  D.   NORTON 


[103 


THE  FAWNERS  BANK  was  first  discussed  in  the  Merchants  Club 
in  January,  1899,  when  a  committee  was  appointed  to  prepare  a 
law  permitting  such  Society.  This  law  was  drawn  by  Leslie  Carter, 
approved  by  the  Legislature  then  in  session,  and  the  First  State 
Fawners  Bank  started  in  business  November  6, 1899.  After  twenty- 
two  years,  at  close  of  the  fiscal  year,  September  30,  1921,  it  had 
made  961,177  separate  loans,  covering  $27,562,384.50  in  money 
value,  with  total  losses  of  less  than  $40,000.00,  or  not  quite  one 
seventh  of  one  per  cent. 


LESLIE  CARTER 

Died  September,  1908 
Aged  57  years 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB 

AND 
THE  STATE  FAWNERS  SOCIETY 

By  JOHN  V.  FARWELL 

THE  records  of  the  Merchants  Club  have  been 
found  to  be  so  incomplete  that  much  of  what 
I  have  to  say  about  the  formation  and  early  history 
of  the  State  Fawners  Society  will  have  to  come 
from  a  memory  dimmed  somewhat  by  time. 

The  old  Merchants  Club  from  its  very  inception 
was  full  of  vitality  and  an  irrepressible  desire  to  do 
something  to  promote  public  welfare.  Its  members 
had  not  then  learned  by  experience  how  the  willing 
horse  is  ridden  to  death.  They  were  young  and 
enthusiastic.  As  a  result,  a  number  of  its  early 
closed  meetings  were  taken  up  with  the  discus- 
sion of  various  projects,  large  and  small,  but 
mostly  large  for  those  days. 

At  one  of  such  meetings,  held  at  the  Chicago 
Club,  on  December  4th,  1897,  Harry  G.  Selfridge 
recommended  a  number  of  propositions,  one  of 
them  being  the  organization  of  a  Provident  Loan 
Association,  like  the  one  started  a  year  or  so  before 
by  Otto  T.  Bannard,  Jacob  H.  Schiff  and  others 
in  New  York  City.  This  seemed  to  take  with  the 
members,  because  it  was  concrete,  practical, 
permanent  and  much  needed. 

[  105  ] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

At  a  subsequent  meeting,  as  I  recollect  it,  a 
committee  was  appointed,  consisting  of  Harry  G. 
Selfridge,  Richard  M.  Bissell,  Leslie  Carter,  Edgar 
A.  Bancroft,  and  Clarence  Buckingham,  with  the 
president  of  the  Club  ex-officio,  to  investigate  and 
report.  Later  on,  after  discussion  at  a  number  of 
meetings  the  Club  approved  the  project  on  January 
14th,  1899,  and  the  Committee  went  on  with  its 
work  of  organization,  getting  a  law  passed  by  the 
Legislature  providing  for  the  organization  of 
State  Fawners  Societies,  drafting  by-laws  and 
soliciting  stock  subscriptions  for  a  capital  stock 
of  $50,000.  The  commissions  to  secure  subscrip- 
tions, as  stated  in  the  License,  were  John  V.  Far- 
well  Jr.,  Harold  F.  McCormick,  Ernest  A.  Hamill, 
Emerson  B.  Tuttle,  Charles  L.  Bartlett  and  Harry 
G.  Selfridge.  Graeme  Stewart  and  F.  W.  Upham, 
both  members  of  the  Club,  were  of  great  assistance 
in  getting  the  law  passed  in  the  Legislature  where 
there  was  much  opposition  from  the  regular  pawn- 
brokers. 

I  well  remember  how  we  carefully  told  sub- 
scribers that  they  might  never  see  their  principal 
again,  to  say  nothing  of  dividends,  but  that  we 
were  hopeful  as  well  as  conservative. 

I  recall,  too,  the  pessimistic  prophecies  hurled 
at  us  from  many  sources,  that  we  could  never  find 
an  honest  and  efficient  man  to  run  the  Society,  that 
they  would  load  us  up  with  all  the  fake  jewelry 
and  watches  in  the  city,  and  that  even' if  we  seemed 
to  be  prospering,  we  would  find,  when  the  first 

[106] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

auction  sale  came  around  (this  from  Otto  Young, 
a  stockholder, — but  not  a  member  of  the  Club, — 
who  was  also  in  the  jewelry  business),  that  our 
terrible  mistakes  would  be  laid  bare. 

Notwithstanding  these  gloomy  forecasts,  the 
$50,000  capital  stock  was  subscribed  almost  en- 
tirely by  members  of  the  Merchants  Club,  and  a 
meeting  of  such  subscribers  was  held  at  the  Grand 
Pacific  hotel,  on  Monday,  July  24th,  1899,  the 
minutes  of  which  meeting  show  that  341  shares 
were  voted,  that  By-laws  were  adopted  and 
directors  elected — Edward  B.  Butler  and  John 
Shedd  for  one  year,  Nelson  P.  Bigelow  and  Edwin 
G.  Foreman  for  two  years,  John  V.  Farwell,  Jr., 
Leslie  Carter  and  Rollin  A.  Keyes  for  three  years. 
As  provided  by  the  State  law,  the  Governor  ap- 
pointed William  H.  Bennett  as  State  director, 
and  the  Mayor  appointed  Dunlap  Smith  as  City 
director. 

The  Society  opened  for  business  on  November 
6th,  1899,  at  72  East  Washington  street.  A  policy 
of  weekly  meetings  of  the  Board  of  Directors  was 
adopted  and  has  been  followed  during  the  twenty- 
two  years  since  that  date. 

Every  director  was  alert  and  interested  in 
making  the  experiment  a  success.  We  watched 
every  penny  of  expense,  and  I  remember  well, 
having  the  awful  prophecies  in  mind,  how,  at  the 
suggestion  of  Dunlap  Smith,  we  sent  men  around 
to  the  Society  as  borrowers  with  paste  diamonds 
and  fake  watches,  to  see  whether  our  appraisers 

[107] 


were  going  to  fall  a  prey  to  the  unscrupulous 
competitors.  One  of  these  emissaries  returned 
stating  that  our  appraiser  after  examining  his 
ring  for  about  fifteen  seconds  had  replied  to  his 
request  for  a  loan  "You  may  not  know  it,  but 
that  diamond  is  glass."  Mr.  Shedd  even  tried 
them  on  a  Patek-Phillipe  watch,  which  he  had 
made  for  him  in  Switzerland,  without  the  makers' 
name.  The  appraiser,  however,  spotted  it  at  once, 
telling  him  it  was  a  Patek-Phillipe,  but  that  he 
had  never  seen  one  without  the  name  on  it 
before.  Such  reports  were  very  reassuring  to  us. 

There  was  some  romance  in  the  business  in  those 
days,  for  we  "took  a  journey  into  a  far  country." 
Everything  went  so  well,  however,  in  the  volume 
of  business  offered  us  that  we  had  to  increase  the 
capital  stock  to  $100,000  on  February  6th,  1900, 
less  than  three  months  after  we  had  opened.  The 
Directors,  as  well  as  others,  including  the  first 
committee,  went  around  soliciting  subscriptions 
to  the  additional  $50,000.  As  this  was  before  the 
first  annual  meeting,  we  could  not  promise  any- 
thing but  hopes.  One  careful  investor  had  charged 
his  first  subscription  to  profit  and  loss,  and  was 
willing  to  sell  that  and  his  second  at  fifty  cents  on 
the  dollar,  which  proposition  was  accepted  by 
another  stockholder,  who  had  a  larger  stock  of  hope. 
I  think  that  is  the  lowest  sale  of  stock  on  record. 

At  the  first  annual  meeting  on  November  20th, 
1900,  the  capital  was  increased  to  $200,000. 

The  first  annual  report  may  be  of  interest — 

[108] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

"  To  the  Stockholders  of  the  State  Fawners  Society — 

As  provided  by  the  by-laws,  the  President  herewith 
submits  the  Report  of  the  Directors  for  the  fiscal  year, 
ending  October  31st,  1900,  including  Trial  Balance,  In- 
come Account,  and  Statistical  Statements  taken  from 
the  books  of  the  Society.  The  present  Board  of  Direct- 
ors was  elected  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  Stockholders, 
held  July  24th,  1899.  As  some  time  was  necessary  for 
preliminary  work  in  a  new  field,  the  Society  did  not 
open  for  business  until  November  6th,  1899.  To  make 
a  full  year's  operation  before  submitting  a  report,  the 
Directors,  through  the  by-laws,  changed  the  ending  of 
the  fiscal  year  to  October  31st,  and  the  date  of  the 
annual  meeting  to  the  third  Tuesday  in  November. 

In  many  respects  the  year  has  been  experimental. 
The  results,  however,  have  exceeded  the  highest  expec- 
tations of  the  Directors,  not  only  in  the  profits  shown, 
but  also  in  the  number  and  amounts  of  loans  made. 
The  experiment  has  proved  that  on  the  present  basis 
such  a  Society  can  be  made  a  business  success  and  that 
a  large  number  of  independent,  self-respecting  people 
in  need  of  temporary  financial  assistance  will  gladly 
patronize  it. 

In  January,  1900,  as  it  became  evident  to  the  Di- 
rectors that  the  original  capital  of  $50,000  would  not 
suffice  for  the  first  year,  as  originally  anticipated,  a 
special  meeting  of  the  stockholders  was  held  February 
6th,  1900,  at  which  the  capital  stock  was  increased  to 
$100,000.  This  was  not  all  subscribed  till  the  last  of 
September,  but  was  sold  as  needed.  • 

The  business  of  the  Society,  however,  has  so  rapidly 
grown,  especially  during  the  last  three  months,  that  this 
$100,000  has  in  turn  proved  insufficient.  Not  desiring 
to  issue  any  more  stock  until  after  an  annual  meeting, 
and  a  full  report  of  the  condition  and  business  of  the 
Society  has  been  submitted  to  the  stockholders,  the 

[109] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

Directors  have  temporarily  borrowed  $20,000.  At  a 
meeting  of  the  Directors,  held  on  Tuesday,  October  30th, 
the  President  was  instructed  to  submit  to  the  stock- 
holders at  the  annual  meeting  the  question  of  increas- 
ing the  capital  stock  to  $200,000,  the  same  to  be  issued 
at  such  time  or  times  as  the  Directors  might  determine. 

Believing  such  a  course  to  be  the  only  conservative 
and  feasible  one  at  the  present  time,  the  President 
herewith  submits  this  plan  for  consideration,  with  the 
earnest  recommendation  that  it  be  adopted.  More 
money  is  needed  at  once,  if  the  Society  is  to  increase  its 
business  and  its  usefulness  in  the  community.  The 
Directors  do  not  believe  it  to  be  a  good  permanent 
business  policy  to  borrow,  and  have  urged  this  plan  as 
the  only  desirable  one.  Considering  the  first  year's 
results,  the  Directors  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that 
the  stock  will  undoubtedly  earn  ten  percent  per  annum, 
and  that  semi-annual  dividends  at  the  rate  of  six  per- 
cent per  annum  (the  maximum  allowed  by  law)  can  be 
regularly  and  safely  declared.  Although  the  required 
year  has  not  yet  elapsed,  on  delinquent  loans,  before  sale 
by  auction  is  allowed,  such  a  large  percentage  of  the 
first  loans  have  been  redeemed,  and  so  many  expert 
appraisements  have  been  secured,  the  Directors  feel 
sure  that  all  probable  losses  from  such  sales  have  been 
more  than  provided  for  in  the  above  statement. 

From  present  experience,  it  is  quite  probable  that 
$500,000  will  in  a  few  years  be  needed  to  carry  the  idea 
of  the  Society  to  its  full  and  complete  development 
with  its  central  office  and  branches  in  the  various  thick- 
ly settled  and  needy  districts  of  the  city. 

In  closing  this  report,  the  President  is  glad  to  state 
that  the  Directors  have  been  most  fortunate  in  securing 
the  services  of  the  present  force  of  employes. 

By  order  of  the  Board, 
JOHN  V.  FARWELL,  JR.,  President." 

[110] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

The  loans  for  the  first  year  numbered  17,161, 
amounting  to  $257,790.75.  The  net  profits  were 
$5,476.27.  Although  this  does  not  seem  like  a 
large  amount  compared  with  the  $110,550.40 
made  last  year,  it  produced  much  more  satis- 
faction to  the  Directors. 

In  1909  it  was  decided  to  get  as  much  of  the  stock 
as  possible  in  the  hands  of  three  voting  trustees, 
Edgar  A.  Bancroft,  John  G.  Shedd  and  John  V. 
Farwell,  so  that  the  policy  and  purpose  of  the 
Society  could  easily  be  kept  in  the  original  public 
welfare  channels.  As  a  result,  more  than  three- 
quarters  of  the  stock  is  now  in  the  hands  of  these 
Trustees. 

Many  of  the  original  directors  are  still  on  the 
Board,  namely:  Messrs.  Butler,  Keyes,  Shedd  and 
Farwell.  During  the  twenty-two  years  Mr.  Dunlap 
Smith,  Mr.  Hermon  B.  Butler,  Mr.  Leslie  Carter 
and  Mr.  Edwin  G.  Foreman  have  died,  and  Mr. 
William  H.  Bennett  (appointed  by  the  Governor) 
and  Mr.  Nelson  P.  Bigelow  resigned  on  account 
of  moving  away  from  Chicago. 

We  were  fortunate  during  the  early  years  in 
securing  as  manager  Mr.  Samuel  Wolfert,  and  as 
assistant  Mr.  S.  Lepunsky,  whose  ability  and 
loyalty  have  contributed  so  largely  to  making  the 
Society  a  success  in  both  helping  so  many  self- 
respecting  and  deserving  people  and  giving  a  fair 
return  to  the  investor. 

In  closing  this  brief  sketch,  which  is  supposed  to 
relate  to  the  early  history  of  the  Society,  it  might 

[mi 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

be  interesting  to  note  that  the  capital  stock  is 
now  $800,000  and  surplus  $674,832,  that  the 
number  of  loans  made  for  the  fiscal  year  ending 
September,  30,  1921  was  47,499  and  the  total 
amount  loaned  for  that  period  $2,739,826.50. 
The  present  directors  are  John  G.  Shedd,  Edward 
B.  Butler,  Edgar  A.  Bancroft,  Rollin  A.  Keyes, 
Thomas  E.  Donnelley,  David  R.  Forgan,  John  V. 
Farwell,  Frank  H.  Jones,  City  Director,  and  John 
W.  Scott,  State  Director. 

Many  consider  the  Society  not  simply  a  corpora- 
tion but  one  of  the  City's  institutions,  which  has 
not  only  by  its  own  loans  helped  many  a  needy 
person  over  a  hard  place  but  also  been  the  means 
of  reducing  the  rates  on  most  of  the  loans  made  by 
other  pawnbrokers.  The  present  directors  trust 
that  it  will  continue  to  be  a  great  city  institution 
keeping  alive  the  name  of  the  Merchants  Club  and 
increasing  in  usefulness  with  the  on-coming  years. 
For  the  Directors, 

JOHN   V.   FARWELL,  President 


[112] 


THEODORE  W.  ROBINSON 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB 
AND  CHICAGO  SCHOOLS 

By  THEODORE  W.  ROBINSON 

OUR  forefathers  founded  this  government  upon 
basic  principle  of  free  and  general  educational 
enlightenment,  and  no  one  can  rightfully  question 
that  we  as  a  nation  are  primarily  what  we  are  be- 
cause the  common  school  has  been  in  this  country 
the  torch-bearer  of  civilization  in  every  city,  ham- 
let and  outpost.  From  the  first  our  schools  have 
been  America's  greatest  institution  and  her  great- 
est industry.  It  is  the  one  obligation  which  our 
people  have  recognized  as  fundamental,  and  which 
has  received  their  support  ungrudgingly  and  with- 
out stint.  It  is  clear,  therefore,  that  anything 
adversely  affecting  the  character  of  our  school 
system  strikes  at  the  very  roots  of  our  institutions 
and  is  a  matter  of  vital  import  to  all. 

This  country,  up  to  a  comparatively  few  years 
ago,  was  essentially  one  of  rural  existence  and  of 
agricultural  development.  Now  we  are  an  indus- 
trial nation  and  our  life  has  rapidly  become  more 
and  more  urban  in  its  character.  In  the  mode  of 
our  material  existence  there  has  been  a  greater 
change  in  the  last  generation  than  in  all  the  years 
that  separate  us  from  our  political  birth.  Not 
only  have  our  cities  increased  phenomenally  in 

[113] 


number  and  in  size  but  thanks  mainly  to  electri- 
city, the  telephone  and  the  automobile  our  rural 
districts  have  become  largely  urban  in  their 
thought  and  in  their  mode  of  living. 

With  the  development  of  our  cities  it  was  in- 
evitable that  the  means  and  methods  of  our  edu- 
cational facilities  therein  became  more  and  more 
impersonal  in  their  character  and  involved  changes 
that  were  new  and  in  many  ways  fraught  with 
danger.  Life  in  the  smaller  communities  and  in 
the  rural  districts,  as  compared  with  the  city,  is 
more  distinctly  one  of  personal  action  and  self 
initiative.  The  people  there  are  more  literally 
hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water.  Education 
is  more  directly  the  concern  of  the  parent  and 
there  is  a  closer  personal  contact  between  the 
school  authorities,  the  teachers  and  the  children. 
Life  of  the  city,  on  the  other  hand,  is  essentially 
one  of  centralization  and  political  control.  Edu- 
cation is  around  the  corner,  to  be  had  with  no 
more  thought  or  effort  than  the  light  and  heat 
which  comes  with  the  throwing  of  a  switch  or  the 
turning  of  a  cock.  To  the  average  citizen  the 
character  of  the  one  is  a  matter  of  as  little  concern 
and  knowledge  as  the  mechanics  of  the  other. 

These  changing  conditions  were  forcing  their 
attention  upon  the  thinking  public  when,  twenty- 
five  years  ago,  a  little  group  of  men,  sixty  in  num- 
ber, joined  themselves  together  for  the  ennoble- 
ment of  Chicago  and  the  glory  of  good  fellowship, 
under  the  name  of  The  Merchants  Club.  Young 

[114] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

in  years  though  old  in  responsibility  of  affairs, 
they  brought  to  bear  the  virility  and  enthusiasm 
of  youth  upon  social  and  economic  problems,  and 
soon  became  a  distinctive  factor  in  the  civic  life 
of  our  city.  Their  meetings  were  a  forum  for  the 
highest,  their  activities  in  matters  of  city,  state 
and  nation  were  catholic  in  their  scope,  and  they 
knew  no  race,  creed  or  partisanship  in  their  en- 
deavor. As  a  result  of  their  careful  investigation 
and  study  there  was  soon  impressed  upon  them 
the  necessity  for  essential  changes  in  the  curricu- 
lum and  methods  of  administration  in  our  city 
schools. 

A  committee  on  education  was  appointed  con- 
sisting of  eleven  members  of  the  Club,  with  John 
R.  Morron  as  the  first  chairman.  That  was  in 
1902,  and  for  five  years,  until  the  merger  with  the 
Commercial  Club,  much  time  and  not  a  little 
money  was  devoted  to  educational  affairs.  The 
Club's  work  was  at  first  largely  initiatory  in  char- 
acter. The  opening  of  evening  schools,  the  use  of 
school  houses  for  social  centers,  the  introduction 
and  development  of  domestic  science  and  other 
vocational  activities,  all  came  under  the  sphere  of 
its  influence. 

Contact  with  our  school  system  showed  many 
statutory  limitations  as  well  as  defects  in  equipment 
and  administration.  The  Chicago  public  school 
system  in  its  size  and  importance  stood  second 
in  this  country,  as  it  does  today,  but  it  was  ham- 
pered by  laws  made  in  its  infancy  which  were  predi- 

[115] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

cated  upon  the  requirements  of  a  village  instead 
of  a  city.  At  that  time  more  than  a  quarter  of  a 
million  men,  women  and  children,  native-born 
and  foreign-born,  were  in  the  educational  process 
of  transformation  and  amalgamation.  More  than 
five  thousand  teachers  were  employed  in  shaping 
the  destiny  of  these  future  citizens ;  240  elementary 
schools,  17  high  schools  and  one  normal  school, 
each  with  its  principal  and  corps  of  teachers,  con- 
stituted Chicago's  educational  plant,  and  over 
eleven  million  dollars  were  annually  paid  by  the 
taxpayers  for  its  maintenance  and  operation. 

Political  pull  had  been  a  material  factor  in  the 
administration  of  our  schools.  Political  expedi- 
ency was  ofttimes  a  more  important  element  in 
the  appointment  of  teachers  than  was  the  ques- 
tion of  fitness  or  merit.  Social  pressure  and  other 
influences  likewise  impaired  the  vitality  of  the 
school  system.  A  substantial  part  of  the  teachers 
belonged  to  the  Teachers'  Federation,  a  secret 
organization  affiliated  with  the  Federation  of 
Labor.  The  Chicago  school  system  was  not  cor- 
rupt, but  it  was  permeated  with  school  politics 
and,  depending  upon  the  character  of  the  different 
city  administrations,  was  subject  to  partisan  in- 
fluence. 

During  the  Merchants  Club's  educational  ac- 
tivities the  Chicago  public  school  system  achieved 
an  unpleasant  notoriety  through  the  ill-advised 
attempts  of  the  School  Board  to  make  drastic  and 
uncalled-for  changes  in  the  schools'  administra- 

[116] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

tion  and  operation.  As  a  result  of  the  various 
destructive  influences  then  existing,  our  schools 
were  permeated  with  strife  and  discord.  The 
School  Trustees  were  fighting  among  themselves; 
the  Federation  of  Teachers  were  fighting  the 
School  Trustees;  the  Superintendent  of  Schools 
had  to  fight  with  some  of  the  Trustees  in  order  to 
maintain  his  authority;  the  teachers  belonging 
to  the  Federation  were  fighting  with  those  who 
did  not  belong  to  the  Federation.  Even  the 
children  in  several  instances  were  resisting  the 
carrying  out  of  school  orders  by  injunctions  at  the 
hands  of  the  courts.  It  was  a  Kilkenny  cat  regime, 
and  the  school  question  became  an  important 
issue  during  the  Dunne  and  Busse  administrations. 
The  influence  of  the  Merchants  Club  helped 
towards  the  final  amelioration  of  the  situation. 

We  are  prone  to  think  of  our  school  system  in 
terms  of  higher  education,  and  it  is  true  that  as 
between  cultural  and  vocational  accomplishment 
the  curriculum  of  our  elementary  schools  has  been 
unduly  influenced  by  the  thought  of  their  being 
preparatory  to  the  high  school  and  the  college.  The 
facts  are  that  only  six  per  cent  of  our  pupils  reach 
the  high  school,  and  less  than  two  per  cent  attain 
the  college. 

The  investigations  of  the  Club  showed  that 
slightly  over  twenty  per  cent  of  our  entire  popula- 
tion, aggregating  at  that  time  over  twenty  million 
people,  wefe  pupils  in  our  public  schools  and  other 
institutions  of  learning,  and  that  of  these,  ninety- 

[117] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

two  per  cent  were  in  the  elementary  schools. 
They  also  found  that  nearly  eighty  per  cent  of  all 
our  children  never  got  beyond  the  eighth  grade  of 
our  grammar  schools,  and  finished  their  education 
at  fourteen  years  of  age  or  younger.  This  impres- 
sive educational  mortality,  as  measured  by  the 
college  clientele,  emphasized  the  need  of  shaping 
the  elementary  courses  with  a  view  of  their  being 
the  ultimate  in  the  child's  preparation  for  his 
life's  work.  Realization  of  this  caused  the  Club  to 
participate  actively  in  strengthening  the  voca- 
tional activities  in  our  schools. 

But  back  of  cultural  and  vocational  opportunity 
lies  the  deeper,  graver  necessity  of  our  schools  in- 
stilling in  the  minds  of  our  youth  patriotism, 
loyalty  and  good  citizenship.  To  be  able  to  read 
and  write  is  a  vital  advance  over  illiteracy,  and  at 
the  time  in  question  there  were  over  five  million 
of  our  inhabitants  who  could  neither  read  nor 
write.  True  education,  however,  means  much 
more  than  the  three  R's,  and  any  training  that 
does  not  inculcate  proper  ethical  and  economic 
standards  falls  far  short  of  its  proper  objective. 
This  is  a  phase  where  institutional  teaching,  es- 
pecially when  subject  to  political  control,  is  apt 
to  be  seriously  deficient.  It  was  a  problem  to 
which  the  Club's  Educational  Committee  gave 
no  little  attention. 

The  character  of  the  work  that  the  Club  was 
doing  in  the  schools  gradually  brought  public 
recognition,  and  at  the  time  of  the  Charter  Con- 

[118] 


THE   MERCHANTS   CLUB   OF  CHICAGO 

vention  the  Club  was  asked  to  assist  in  drawing  a 
new  school  law  for  the  City  of  Chicago.  A  vast 
amount  of  research  work  was  done  and  the  educa- 
tional section  of  the  first  charter  bill  as  it  was 
passed  at  Springfield  was  drawn  largely  by  the 
Club.  The  charter  bill  failed  on  referendum,  but 
the  Merchants  Club's  endeavor  resulted  in  an  im- 
portant piece  of  legislation.  Formerly  it  was  the 
law  that  while  attendance  at  school  was  compul- 
sory up  to  the  age  of  fourteen  years,  it  was  also 
the  law  that  children  could  only  be  employed  until 
over  sixteen  years  of  age  under  such  restrictions 
as  to  practically  preclude  opportunities  for  main- 
taining permanent  employment. 

As  a  result  three  or  four  thousand  boys  and  girls 
between  the  ages  of  fourteen  and  sixteen  were 
annually  thrown  upon  our  streets  without  school 
restriction  and  without  steady  work.  The  contri- 
bution to  our  reformatories  was  eloquent  evidence 
of  the  demoralizing  conditions  thus  presented. 
Thanks  to  the  Merchants  Club,  the  compulsory 
school  age  was  extended  from  fourteen  to  sixteen 
years  unless  between  those  ages  legitimate  employ- 
ment could  be  shown.  The  result  of  this  legisla- 
tion has  been  increasingly  beneficent  during  the 
years  that  have  elapsed  since  its  enactment. 

In  looking  back  it  is  but  frank  to  say  that  as 
compared  with  its  other  activities  the  Club's  edu- 
cational efforts  were  not  too  popular  among  its 
members,  and  the  reason  is  not  far  to  seek.  The 
work  was  hard  to  visualize  and  difficult  to  measure. 

[119] 


It  involved  nothing  that  was  dramatic  or  spectacu- 
lar. Unlike  current  problems  that  could  be  com- 
paratively quickly  grappled  and  quickly  settled, 
it  largely  concerned  matters  of  the  tomorrow  and 
not  of  today.  Casually  considered,  it  was  for  the 
coming  generation  rather  than  the  present  genera- 
tion; it  was  a  problem  apparently  for  the  peda- 
gogue rather  than  for  the  business  man;  yet  as 
measured  by  a  perspective  of  the  greatest  good 
for  the  greatest  number,  there  has  been  no  work 
in  which  the  Club  has  been  involved  that  has  been 
farther  reaching  or  more  important.  It  promoted 
the  possibilities  and  use  of  the  evening  school;  it 
demonstrated  the  practical  application  of  voca- 
tional training;  it  was  influential  in  the  enactment 
of  better  school  laws;  and  finally,  it  initiated  the 
subsequent  educational  work  done  by  the  Commer- 
cial Club. 

Vocational  training  had  become  an  important 
element  in  promoting  foreign  industrial  efficiency. 
Germany  in  particular  through  the  vision  and 
statesmanship  of  Bismarck  had  profited  in  a 
striking  manner  by  this  educational  innovation. 
This  country  had  done  comparatively  nothing  to 
thus  better  adapt  our  schools  to  the  needs  of  the 
vast  majority  of  our  people.  The  work  of  the 
Merchants  Club  pointed  the  way,  and  Mr.  E.  G. 
Cooley,  formerly  Superintendent  of  Chicago  Pub- 
lic Schools,  was  engaged  by  the  Commercial  Club 
to  investigate  the  possibilities  of  vocational  train- 
ing for  our  conditions  and  needs.  His  investiga- 

[120] 


THE  MERCHANTS   CLUB   OF  CHICAGO 

tion  of  European  conditions  was  the  most  compre- 
hensive survey  ever  made  by  an  American  body  or 
individual.  His  report  advanced  the  cause  of  voca- 
tional training  in  this  country  to  a  marked  degree, 
and  the  work  done  by  the  Commercial  Club 
through  him  both  materially  influenced  the  char- 
acter of  our  national  and  state  educational  legis- 
lation, and  literally  made  the  name  of  the  Club 
known  in  every  state  of  the  Union  and  in  every 
country  of  Europe.  That  this  work  of  the  Com- 
mercial Club  was  in  line  with  its  former  activities, 
and  that  its  interest  in  educational  matters  had 
almost  from  the  Club's  inception  been  much  more 
than  an  academic  one,  is  substantiated  by  the  fol- 
lowing record. 

The  Commercial  Club  founded  and  for  many 
years  supported  one  of  the  first  manual  training 
schools  in  this  country,  viz.,  the  Chicago  Manual 
Training  School  at  Twelfth  Street  and  Michigan 
Avenue.  It  raised  endowment  funds  for  the 
Illinois  Manual  Training  School  at  Glenwood 
and  for  the  St.  Charles  School  for  Boys.  It  gave 
to  the  city  of  Chicago  the  site  for  one  of  Chicago's 
earliest  playgrounds,  and  it  presented  to  the  United 
States  Government  the  site  for  the  Naval  Training 
School  at  Lake  Bluff. 

It  is  thus  clear  that  in  carrying  out  the  educa- 
tional work  started  by  the  Merchants  Club  the 
Commercial  Club  was  but  following  its  old  tra- 
ditions for  public  service  in  this  most  important 
field. 

[121] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

In  .re viewing  the  work  of  the  Merchants  Club 
among  our  schools  it  is  interesting  to  note  that 
there  are  in  this  country  about  two  million  chil- 
dren every  year  who  reach  the  age  of  fourteen. 
Any  man  worthy  of  the  name  devotes  his  time  and 
money  to  the  welfare  of  his  children,  but  the  chil- 
dren of  the  multitude  and  their  welfare  should  like- 
wise be  to  him  a  matter  of  the  deepest  concern. 
They  are  the  coming  generation,  and  in  their  hands 
lies  not  only  the  tranquillity  or  stress  of  his  old 
age  but  also  the  destiny  of  his  children  and  his 
children's  children.  This  is  a  government  of  the 
people,  and  the  character  of  our  government  of  to- 
morrow will  be  largely  determined  by  the  charac- 
ter of  the  school  children  of  today.  This  is  trite; 
it  is  certainly  obvious;  but  it  is  a  truth  that  too 
often  passes  unheeded.  We  are  prone  to  forget 
that  the  fundamental  difference  between  anarchy 
and  law  and  order  is  proper  educational  training, 
and  that  the  essential  difference  between  Russia 
and  America  today  is  the  common  school.  The 
Merchants  Club  is  now  history,  but  the  work  that 
it  did  for  the  improvement  of  our  schools  will  en- 
dure and  is  a  striking  monument  to  its  unselfish 
devotion  to  the  public  good. 

THEODORE  W.  ROBINSON 


122] 


ALLEN  B.  POND 


CHICAGO  NIGHT  SCHOOLS 

By  ALLEN  B.  POND 

SOME  of  the  members  of  the  Merchants  Club 
had  taken  notice  of  the  fact  that  many  chil- 
dren, and  more  particularly  the  boys,  were  quitting 
school  as  soon  as  they  passed  the  fifth  grade  and 
the  compulsory  age — whether  because  of  real  or 
claimed  economic  stress  in  the  home,  or  because  of 
lack  of  interest  in  school  work,  or  for  both  reasons 
— and  that  in  the  great  majority  of  cases  the 
children  came  from  homes  in  which  the  scanty 
cultural  background  made  a  longer  period  of 
school  life  all  the  more  important.  Added  to  this 
situation  was  the  presence  in  Chicago  of  large 
numbers  of  immigrants,  many  with  a  slender  edu- 
cation in  their  old-world  home,  who  were  in  need 
of  educational  opportunities  to  fit  them  for  suc- 
cessful and  self-respecting  careers  in  America. 
These  observant  and  thoughtful  Club  members 
realized  that  increased  educational  opportunity 
for  these  groups  was  not  less  a  protection  to  a 
democratic  state  than  a  humane  obligation  to  the 
immigrants  and  to  the  under-educated  and  per- 
manently handicapped  children. 

Not  unnaturally  the  first  thought  of  the  inter- 
ested members,  when  casting  about  for  an  educa- 
tional remedy,  was  that  the  way  out  was  to  be 

[123] 


THE  MERCHANTS   CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

found  in  strengthening  and  extending  the  night- 
school  system.  It  so  happened  that,  at  the  very 
time  when  the  seriousness  of  this  situation  was  im- 
pressing itself  on  the  minds  of  these  Club  members, 
the  school  authorities,  pressed  for  lack  of  suffi- 
cient funds  to  maintain  the  public  schools  even  at 
their  former  efficiency,  had  discontinued  the  eve- 
ning schools  altogether. 

The  subject  was  formally  brought  before  the 
Club  during  the  presidency  of  Mr.  Richard  Bissell; 
and  from  that  time  forward  the  strengthening  of 
the  public  school  system  more  adequately  to  meet 
the  needs  of  the  community  became  one  of  the 
permanent  and  chief  policies  of  the  Merchants 
Club  and,  at  the  merger,  was  carried  over  to 
the  Commercial  Club,  which,  indeed,  had  al- 
ready concerned  itself  with  the  need  of  greater 
educational  facilities,  more  particularly  on  the 
technical  side. 

Representatives  of  the  Club  sought  an  interview 
with  the  school  authorities  and  urged  the  resump- 
tion of  the  night  schools.  The  Board  of  Educa- 
tion not  only  flatly  affirmed  the  impossibility  of 
resuming  the  night  schools  because  of  the  crippled 
financial  condition  of  the  schools,  but  intimated 
that,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  night  schools  were  of  no 
great  and  immediate  importance,  that  there  had 
been  no  demand  for  them,  that  the  attendance  had 
been  too  small  to  justify  the  expense  of  operation; 
in  short,  that  they  had  been,  take  it  all  in  all,  a 
failure.  To  these  statements  the  Club  representa- 

[124] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

lives  replied  that  the  failure  of  a  response  on  the 
part  of  young  people  and  adults  was  due  not  to 
the  lack  of  a  conscious  need,  but  to  the  inferior 
quality  of  the  schools  themselves — both  as  to  kind 
and  extent  of  curriculum  and  as  to  quality  of  teach- 
ing; and  that,  if  the  Board  would  turn  over  to  the 
Club  a  suitably  located  school  building  for  evening 
use,  the  Club  would  itself  plan  the  program,  pro- 
vide teachers  and  incidental  equipment,  and  dem- 
onstrate beyond  cavil  both  the  fact  of  the  de- 
mand and  the  possibility  of  meeting  it. 

The  Board  demurred  at  incurring  even  the 
expense  of  heat,  light,  janitor  service  and  ordinary 
wear  and  tear;  and  the  Club  met  the  objection  by 
offering  to  pay  rent  for  the  school  premises  as  well 
as  all  the  operating  expenses.  This  offer  was  ac- 
cepted by  the  Board,  and  in  the  year  1901-02  the 
John  Spry  School  building,  a  new  plant  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  McCormick  Works,  was  turned 
over  to  the  Merchants  Club  to  make  its  experi- 
ment. 

The  Club  curriculum  included  not  only  such 
routine  academic  work  as  English,  mathematics, 
history  and  the  like,  but  typewriting,  domestic 
science,  dressmaking,  millinery,  manual  training, 
choral  singing,  instruction  of  mothers  in  nursing 
and  home  making,  neighborhood  men's  clubs  and 
popular  lectures.  The  Club  provided  the  type- 
writers and  installed  the  domestic  science  equip- 
ment and  manual  training  outfit.  Every  nook 
and  cranny  of  the  building  were  filled  to  overflow- 

[125] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

ing,  classes  even  being  held  in  the  stub  ends  of 
corridors. 

The  school  was  so  obviously  and  so  triumphant- 
ly successful  that  there  was  no  possibility  of  re- 
affirming the  lack  of  demand.  The  following 
year  the  Club  inaugurated  similar  work  in  the 
O'Toole  (now  the  John  Hamline)  School  near  the 
:<  Yards"  and  in  the  old  Washington  School  on  the 
near  northwest  side.  The  John  Spry  School  was 
operated  by  the  Club  for  three  successive  years 
and  the  other  two  schools  for  two  successive  years; 
and  at  the  end  of  that  time,  the  demonstration 
being  regarded  as  complete,  the  schools  were 
turned  over  to  the  Board  of  Education  to  carry 
on  the  work. 

It  must  be  recorded  to  the  credit  of  the  Board 
of  Education  that,  once  the  demonstration  had 
been  made,  the  Board  took  up  the  work  that  the 
Club  laid  down  and  maintained  and  extended  it. 
The  Club,  having  had  its  thought  sharply  turned 
to  public  school  problems,  did  not  abandon  the 
field.  It  had  become  convinced,  however,  that 
something  more  was  necessary  than  the  establish- 
ment of  evening  classes  for  children,  often  too 
weary  to  avail  themselves  of  such  opportunities, 
and  that  there  were  required  additional  daytime 
facilities  for  children  who,  for  reasons  of  family 
finance  or  other  causes,  had  left  school  with  far 
too  scant  an  education  to  equip  them  either  for 
competent  wage-earning  or  for  citizenship.  The 
investigations  set  on  foot  in  this  field,  and  the 

[126] 


THE   MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

efforts  to  obtain  legislation  that  should  inaugurate 
public  continuation  schools  and  more  adequate 
technical  training  fall,  however,  in  the  period 
subsequent  to  the  merger  of  the  Merchants  and 
the  Commercial  Clubs;  and  the  story  of  these 
efforts  has  its  proper  place  in  the  history  of  the 
Commercial  Club. 

There  can  be  no  question  that  the  immediate 
and  sweeping  success  of  the  Merchants  Club 
evening  schools  was  due  not  merely  to  the  quality 
of  the  teaching,  but  also  to  the  fact  that  the  cur- 
riculum— with  its  emphasis  on  craftsmanship  and 
home  economics — brought  to  the  students  a  clear 
realization  that  schooling,  to  be  real  schooling, 
need  not  be  divorced  from  reality — that  a  school 
could  be  made  a  part  of  life  and  a  means  of  putting 
one  on  the  road  to  living  more  abundantly.  The 
Chicago  schools,  whatever  their  shortcomings  may 
still  be,  have  made  great  strides  in  this  direction, 
and  the  credit  for  the  impetus  belongs  in  no 
small  part  to  the  Merchants  Club's  evening  school 
experiment. 

ALLEN  B.  POND 


[127] 


Educational  matters  had  deep  and  continuing  interest  for  the 
Merchants  Club.  Many  meetings,  executive  and  open,  were  given 
to  this  subject,  where  the  discussions  were  on  manual  and  voca- 
tional and  commercial  training,  domestic  science,  use  of  school 
buildings  for  community  centers,  night  schools,  etc. 

Since  1902  more  than  half  of  the  total  membership  of  the  Club 
served  at  some  time  on  one  or  more  of  these  educational  com- 
mittees. 


GRAEME  STEWART 

Born  1853.  Died  1905 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB 

AND  THE 

UNITED  STATES  NAVAL  TRAINING 
STATION  AT  GREAT  LAKES 

ONE  of  the  most  interesting  and  important  un- 
dertakings by  the  Merchants  Club  was  the 
location  of  the  Naval  Training  Station  at  Lake 
Bluff  just  above  Chicago.  There  was  little  time 
for  deliberation  upon  this :  it  was  a  case  for  action, 
quick  and  decisive.  When  it  was  learned  that 
the  national  government  contemplated  founding 
such  a  station  in  the  middle  west,  the  Merchants 
Club,  on  July  19,  1904,  appointed  a  committee 
with  Graeme  Stewart  at  its  head  and  including 
Frederic  W.  Upham,  John  R.  Morron,  Harold 
F.  McCormick,  and  Alfred  L.  Baker  in  its  member- 
ship, to  investigate,  and,  if  the  interests  of  the  gov- 
ernment and  of  Chicago  should  coincide,  endeavor 
to  secure  the  location.  This  committee  looked  the 
ground  over  promptly,  selected  the  site,  obtained 
options  on  172  acres  of  ground  at  approximately 
one  thousand  dollars  per  acre.  This  price  was  made 
so  low  by  the  owners,  Joseph  Downey  and  William 
H.  Murphy,  because  of  the  use  that  was  to  be 
made  of  the  ground.  Lake  Bluff  was  an  ideal  spot, 
opening  the  wide  field  of  the  Middle  West,  filled 
with  eager  young  manhood  from  which  the  Navy 
Department  might  draw  enlistments  for  its  service. 

[129] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

With  the  approval  of  his  committee  and  of  the 
Executive  Committee,  Mr.  Stewart  went  before 
the  Naval  Commission  then  sitting  in  Chicago 
to  hear  advocates  of  other  localities,  explained 
briefly  the  advantages  of  the  Great  Lakes,  and 
ended  by  offering  this  fine  property  as  a  free  will 
gift  to  the  government  from  the  people  of  this 
community.  This  was  just  one  month  after  the 
appointment  of  the  committee.  The  offer  was 
accepted,  the  Merchants  Club  raised  the  money 
by  contributions,  none  of  which  was  large,  the 
Navy  Department  at  once  began  construction 
plans,  and  thus  came  into  existence  the  Great  Lakes 
Naval  Training  Station,  with  scores  of  buildings — 
officers  quarters,  administration  offices,  barracks, 
mess  rooms,  store  house,  parade  grounds,  training 
fields,  hospitals,  fine  drainage,  unlimited  water, 
and  the  whole  of  Lake  Michigan  before  them. 

The  Navy  drew  only  the  best  human  material, 
for  all  were  volunteers:  there  were  no  selective 
draft  men.  Of  course  the  salt-water  experience 
must  be  gained  on  wider  seas,  but  the  training 
at  Great  Lakes  was  complete  preparation  for  it. 

This  station  had  already  turned  out  many 
highly  trained  and  competent  men,  but  when  the 
United  States  entered  the  world  war,  large  in- 
creases of  facilities  were  required,  more  ground, 
more  buildings,  some  permanent,  some  temporary. 
Through  these  gates  a  seemingly  endless  stream 
of  vigorous  young  men  passed  in  for  enlistment 
and  training,  out  for  active  service  for  their 

[130] 


THE  MERCHANTS   CLUB   OF  CHICAGO 

country,  and  when  no  longer  needed,  returned, 
crowned  with  laurels  of  devoted  service,  and  then 
out  into  the  world  again  with  the  homage  and 
heartfelt  gratitude  of  fellow  citizens. 

In  1904  both  the  Club  and  the  Government 
thought  172  acres  sufficient  for  the  station.  An 
idea  of  its  growth  and  accomplishment  since  then 
may  be  gained  from  these  figures,  obtained  by  the 
courtesy  of  D.  W.  Wurtsbaugh,  Captain  U.  S. 
Navy,  Commandant  at  Great  Lakes: 

The  total  number  of  acres  at  present  included 
in  the  Naval  Reservation  at  Great  Lakes  is 
1,105.57.  Of  this  54.75  acres  are  in  the  Hospital 
Reservation. 

The  total  number  of  buildings  on  the  reserva- 
tion is  726.  Of  these  126  are  in  the  Hospital 
Reservation. 

The  total  floor  area  of  the  buildings  is  4,050,000 
square  feet.  Of  this  370,000  square  feet  are  in 
the  Hospital  buildings. 

The  records  show  that  since  January  1,  1916, 
191,552  enlisted  men  have  been  trained  at  this 
station.  The  records  prior  to  January  1,  1916,  are 
incomplete,  but  it  is  estimated  that  since  the 
opening  of  the  station  in  1911  and  prior  to  January 
1,  1916,  about  9,000  men  had  passed  through  the 
training  station.  Therefore,  a  conservative  esti- 
mate of  the  number  of  men  that  have  passed 
through  this  station  since  it  opened  in  1911  may  be 
stated  as  200,000. 

[131] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

The  records  further  show  that  the  largest 
number  of  men  in  training  at  this  station  occurred 
in  August,  1918,  when  the  population  of  the  station 
was  44,746  men. 

The  Navy  of  the  United  States  is  a  complex 
organization.  It  is  composed  of  many  ocean- 
going vessels,  and  the  training  a  man  must  receive 
to  fit  him  for  duty  on  them  is  highly  technical. 
The  capital  battleship  is  a  world  in  itself.  Its 
complement  of  men  is  enough  to  found  a  city,  and 
these  must  be  not  only  men  of  strong  physique, 
but  quick  of  hands  and  sight,  agile  of  limb,  alert  of 
mind.  The  rank  and  file  must  be  trained  as  sailors, 
marines,  gunners,  radio  operators:  there  are  as 
many  and  as  varied  occupations  as  in  the  city. 
However  cruel,  brutal,  bloody  and  destructive  war 
may  be,  the  army  and  navy  training  do  produce 
upstanding,  sturdy  men,  erect,  trained  to  obedi- 
ence to  law  and  duty,  and  to  team  work,  a  kind  of 
training  which  the  modern  civilian  often  lacks.  All 
of  this  it  is  the  province  of  the  Great  Lakes  Naval 
Training  Station  to  provide. 

The  connection  of  the  Merchants  Club  with  the 
station  has  been  a  source  of  honorable  pride  to  its 
members.  The  connection  of  Graeme  Stewart,  its 
spokesman  in  this  matter,  was  this  and  more:  it 
was  dramatic  at  the  beginning  in  his  presentation 
of  the  site:  it  was  more  than  dramatic,  it  was 
tragic  at  its  close.  The  same  day  that  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  met  to  arrange  that  the  Club 
might  be  present  at  the  laying  of  the  corner  stone 

[132] 


THE   MERCHANTS   CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

of  the  first  important  building,  it  had  also  to 
appoint  a  meeting  place  that  the  Club  in  a  body 
might  attend  the  funeral  of  Graeme  Stewart. 
Whether  his  early  death  was  hastened  by  intensive 
work  for  this  enterprise  we  know  not.  It  may  have 
been.  The  Club  honors  and  holds  him  in  affec- 
tionate regard  for  his  wise  judgment,  energy, 
persistence  and  devotion,  and  for  his  friendly  co- 
operation in  all  its  affairs. 

This  account  is  offered  by  an  outsider,  never  a 
member  of  the  Merchants  Club,  but  always  an 
admirer  of  Graeme  Stewart,  the  man,  its  rep- 
resentative in  this  transaction. 


[133] 


LAKE  BLUFF  NAVAL  TRAINING  STATION 
COMMITTEES 

From  the  Merchants  Club — Graeme  Stewart,  Chairman. 
Frederic  W.  Upham,  Harold  F.  McCormick,  John  R.  Morron, 
Alfred  L.  Baker. 

From  the  Commercial  Club — J.  Harley  Bradley,  William  L. 
Brown,  James  H.  Eckels,  Louis  F.  Swift,  Charles  H.  Wacker. 

Total  number  of  men  trained  about  200,000. 


MAIN  ENTRANCE  GATE,  U.  S.  NAVAL  TRAINING  STATION 
GREAT  LAKES 


THE   GREAT  LAKES  NAVAL 
TRAINING  STATION 

FROM  THE  POINT  OP  VIEW  OF  THE 
ENLISTED  MAN 

IT  is  rather  difficult  to  give  a  composite  opinion 
of  the  Great  Lakes  Naval  Training  from  the 
viewpoint  of  the  enlisted  men  who  trained  there, 
for  viewpoints  differ.  What  would  be  a  hardship 
to  one  might  seem  quite  different  to  another. 
Orders  and  discipline  thought  autocratic  and 
needlessly  severe  by  one  might  be  only  a  matter  of 
course  to  his  neighbor.  When  the  sailor  had  been 
transferred  to  other  training  stations,  however,  or 
to  sea  duty,  where  he  came  in  contact  with  less 
fortunate  sailors  or  soldiers,  a  Great  Lakes  man 
could  realize  the  efficiency  of  this  training  station 
and  how  well  he  had  been  cared  for  there. 

The  quarters  were  well  constructed,  adequately 
heated  and  ventilated.  Cleanliness  and  neatness 
being  the  first  commandments  in  the  Navy,  every- 
thing was  always  spotless.  Usually  thirty  to 
forty  men  were  quartered  in  one  barracks.  When- 
ever possible,  the  rules  and  regulations  aboard 
ships  were  followed  out.  The  men  slept  in  ham- 
mocks, stood  watches,  and  even  carried  on  con- 
versations in  the  manner  of  seasoned  salts. 

The  first  weeks  at  the  station  is  called  the  de- 
tention period,  and  a  disheartening  one  it  is. 

[135] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

During  this  time  the  men  are  under  strict  quaran- 
tine, and  are  closely  observed  daily  for  any  indica- 
tion of  disease  or  physical  defect.  During  this 
time,  too,  they  are  inoculated  against  typhoid, 
smallpox,  etc.  Psychopathic  tests  also  are  given  to 
eliminate  the  mentally  defective.  And  during  this 
time  the  new  man  comes  in  contact  with  other 
newly  enlisted  men  only,  he  can  go  nowhere,  he 
can  see  no  friends.  The  gates  are  closed,  he  is 
surrounded  by  armed  guards,  he  feels  as  if  in 
prison — a  discouraging  experience  it  must  be 
admitted  for  the  beginner.  While  in  detention 
camp  he  has  his  meals  in  the  detention  barracks, 
after  that  in  the  general  mess  room,  where  he  is 
served  by  a  detail  from  some  company,  which 
detail  is  rotated  week  by  week. 

The  Station  is  divided  into  camps,  each  one 
devoted  to  some  particular  purpose.  After  the 
detention  period  is  over  the  men  are  transferred 
to  those  different  camps,  depending  upon  their 
ratings  and  the  training  to  be  given  them.  The 
period  of  training  varied  from  a  few  weeks  of  in- 
tensive training  for  the  ordinary  seamen,  to  six 
or  eight  months  for  wireless  operators,  aviators 
and  other  specialized  branches  of  the  service. 

The  day  usually  consisted  of  so  many  hours  of 
drilling,  say  four  to  six  for  seamen,  less  for  aviators, 
two  hours  for  radio  operators.  There  were  certain 
hours  of  study,  and  ample  time  for  recreation. 
The  routine  compared  favorably  with  that  of  an 
ordinary  military  school.  The  trades  were  almost 

[136] 


THE  MERCHANTS   CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

as  numerous  as  those  of  civilian  life.  Hospital 
apprentices,  seamen,  firemen,  engineers,  electri- 
cians, carpenters,  clerks,  bookkeepers,  aviators, 
were  just  a  few  of  them. 

The  marines  are  soldiers  of  the  Navy,  with  duty 
mostly  at  naval  bases  and  on  land  as  guards,  and 
have  no  sailor  duties.  Yeomen  are  the  accountants 
and  do  other  clerical  work. 

The  rated  man  is  one  with  his  first  promotion, 
which  really  means  a  certificate  of  attention  and 
progress  in  his  training.  His  next  advancement 
would  be  to  Petty  Officer,  then  Chief  Petty  Officer — 
C.  P.  O.,  he  is  styled — then  warrant  officer,  and 
after  that  comes  Ensign,  who  is  the  least  of  the 
commissioned  officers.  The  Naval  Lieutenant 
ranks  with  the  Army  Captain,  the  Captain  with  the 
Army  Colonel  or  Brigadier. 

With  proficiency,  an  enlisted  man  may  become 
a  P.  O.  or  a  warrant  officer;  from  that  he  would  be 
promoted  to  Annapolis,  where  he  could  graduate 
to  a  commission. 

All  men  are  given  some  military  training  in 
squad  formation,  in  marching,  in  the  manual  of 
arms,  and  there  is  a  special  service  of  Armed 
Guards,  men  to  be  placed  on  merchant  ships. 

For  recreation  there  were  singing,  theatricals, 
baseball,  football,  boxing,  and  all  of  the  ordinary 
school  sports.  Each  camp  usually  was  represented 
by  a  picked  team  in  the  various  competitive  sports, 
and  the  rivalry  was  often  as  keen  as  that  between 
college  teams.  The  sports  were  under  super- 

[137] 


vision  of  petty  officers  detailed  for  that  purpose. 
Each  camp  had  a  sick  bay  or  dispensary  where 
the  sailor  would  go  to  obtain  simple  medical 
treatment.  Any  case  more  serious  was  sent  to  the 
main  hospital,  where  the  patient  would  receive  the 
same  treatment  afforded  by  the  best  equipped 
institutions  in  civil  life.  During  the  influenza 
epidemic,  however,  the  hospitals  were  crowded, 
and  it  was  impossible  to  give  treatment  or  the 
necessary  care  to  the  thousands  suddenly  stricken. 

The  Great  Lakes  sailor  was  dubbed  a  dry  land 
sailor  by  the  seasoned  salt  of  the  navy.  While  this 
was  true  in  one  sense  of  the  word,  yet  it  was  possi- 
ble to  turn  out  a  very  satisfactory  sailor  from  this 
land  ship.  The  first  few  weeks'  training  was  the  same 
on  land  or  sea,  and  by  observing  sea  routine  and 
customs  it  was  possible  to  accomplish  results  as  sat- 
isfactory as  those  obtained  on  the  ships  of  the  fleet. 

The  sailor  in  training  is  usually  allowed  twelve 
hours  a  week  of  liberty,  from  Saturday  noon  until 
midnight,  or  the  same  period  of  time  on  Sunday. 
Shore  leave,  it  was  called.  Before  this  each  man  of 
us  was  inspected,  and  if  not  found  in  perfect  order, 
both  in  person  and  in  uniform,  was  sent  back  and 
forfeited  shore  leave.  Mostly  we  went  to  Chicago 
when  on  leave.  We  would  go  out  on  the  road,  and 
when  a  motor  car  was  passing,  hold  up  our  hands, 
and  almost  invariably  the  owner  would  stop  and 
take  us  to  town.  There  there  were  many  places  we 
could  go — many  private  houses  were  open  to  us. 
In  one  such,  where  I  was  privileged  to  enter,  a 

[138] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

charming  home  of  a  cultivated  family,  its  mistress 
would  take  six  or  more  Great  Lakes  men  every 
Sunday  to  dinner,  getting  as  many  different  men 
on  succeeding  Sundays  as  possible,  but  any  worthy 
man  who  had  been  there  once  was  welcome  to 
come  again.  Often  there  would  be  twelve  or  more 
there  during  the  afternoon.  After  dinner  we  would 
sit  in  her  library,  around  her  cheerful  fire,  some  on 
chairs,  some  on  the  floor,  and  talk  and  read.  One 
by  one  we  would  pour  our  troubles  into  her  patient, 
sympathetic  ears  and  get  her  good  advice.  And 
there  we  would  cook  supper  for  the  family  and 
ourselves,  wash  the  dishes  and  put  the  kitchen  to 
rights  again.  We  hated  this  work  at  the  Great 
Lakes :  we  loved  it  in  this  cultivated  home.  And  at 
the  end  of  the  evening  this  lady  would  send  us  in  her 
automobile  to  the  station  just  in  time  to  catch 
the  last  train,  that  we  might  not  be  tempted  to 
stop  at  some  wayside  inn  on  the  way  back  to  duty. 

During  the  week  there  was  always  something  to 
do  or  see  in  leisure  time.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  Knights 
of  Columbus,  and  A.  L.  A.  (American  Library 
Association)  huts  were  usually  crowded  with  men 
reading,  writing  or  listening  to  some  form  of 
entertainment. 

Perhaps  the  most  difficult  task  was  that  of 
supplying  food  for  such  a  large  body  of  men,  and 
complaints  were  naturally  quite  frequent  on  this 
subject.  Everything  being  cooked  in  such  quan- 
tities, it  was  not  possible  to  make  things  exactly 
appetizing.  After  detention  was  over  the  men  ate 

[139] 


in  large  mess  halls  supplied  from  a  central  kitchen, 
and  the  various  companies  of  men  took  turns  as 
kitchen  help,  waiters,  etc.  We  liked  the  brown 
bread  that  our  friends  on  the  outside  were  con- 
demned to  eat  while  we  perforce  must  eat  the 
better  white  bread,  and  we  were  glad  those  out- 
side friends  couldn't  give  us  beans.  Within  the 
gates  we  had  too  many  beans. 

The  men  could  not  well  read  or  write  in  their 
barracks — there  were  no  tables  or  chairs.  The 
A.  L.  A.  was  almost  a  club,  where  were  books  and 
papers  and  men  could  meet  to  talk  and  read. 
The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  Knights  of  Columbus 
furnished  writing  materials  and  facilities.  But  the 
Y.  W.  C.  A.  was  best  of  all,  for  they  established 
two  hostess*  houses  at  Great  Lakes  where  men 
could  read  and  write  and  talk  and  meet  their 
friends,  and  that  without  fee.  They  could  have 
luncheon,  too,  if  they  had  the  price.  There  were 
several  bedrooms  where  relatives  of  sick  men  could 
be  cared  for  if  the  men  were  sick  enough.  Wednes- 
days and  Saturdays  and  Sundays  were  visiting 
days,  and  civilian  friends  could  go  to  a  hostess' 
house  and  call  us  to  go  there  to  receive  their  visits. 

Petty  offenders  were  sent  to  "brig"  and  had  a 
red  star  sewed  upon  their  uniforms  as  a  designa- 
tion, and  men  who  were  often  in  brig  were  after- 
wards given  the  most  menial  tasks  about  the 
station. 

Men  have  to  be  doing  something  to  be  happy. 
When  they  were  put  to  work  at  the  station  they 

[140] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

wore  white  uniforms  so  their  officers  might  know 
if  they  were  shirking.  With  so  many  men  and  so 
little  to  be  done,  officers  found  difficulty  in  pro- 
viding the  work,  and  so  would  have  materials 
moved  from  one  place  to  another  today,  and  back 
tomorrow.  Naturally  men  didn't  want  to  work, 
and  so  sometimes  one  would  keep  his  blue  uniform 
under  the  white,  and  if  favorable  opportunity 
offered  would  strip  off  the  white,  roll  it  into  a 
small  bundle  and  stroll  around  watching  other 
men,  as  they  were  permitted  to  do  when  not  on 
duty.  Shoveling  coal  was  the  hardest  and  dirtiest 
work.  When  detailed  we  were  led  to  our  tasks  by 
a  chief  petty  officer.  Once  when  on  my  way  to 
coal  service  we  passed  carpenters  at  work.  I  slipped 
out  of  line,  got  among  the  carpenters  and  was 
busily  sawing  by  the  time  the  next  P.  O.  came  by 
at  the  head  of  his  squad,  and  thus  avoided  coal 
shoveling  that  day. 

Sleeping  in  hammocks  was  about  the  hardest 
thing  to  get  used  to.  They  were  slung  about  five 
feet  from  the  floor.  There  was  no  way  to  get  in  one 
but  to  climb  the  pole  at  its  head  or  foot,  the  floor 
was  hard,  the  hammock  was  treacherous  and 
wouldn't  stay  put,  and  often  would  turn  over, 
spill  the  bedding  out  and  drop  the  man,  to  the 
detriment  of  his  bones  and  the  bruising  of  his 
body.  Many  a  man  got  a  broken  arm  this  way. 
And  after  the  night  if  one  didn't  get  out  promptly 
in  the  morning  along  came  the  guard,  shook  the 
hammock  vigorously  and  spilled  the  occupant. 

[141] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

An  honest  opinion  of  the  treatment  by  the 
officers  is  rather  hard  to  give  from  the  viewpoint 
of  the  enlisted  man.  Requiring  a  great  many 
officers  in  a  very  short  time,  unfortunately  some 
unqualified  men  were  chosen.  While  these  were  a 
small  minority  of  the  whole,  yet  one  poor  officer 
made  more  of  an  impression  upon  the  men  than  a 
dozen  good  ones.  It  quite  naturally  was  the  custom 
to  blame  every  hardship  on  the  kaiser,  and  he 
failing,  the  more  material  officer  came  next  in  line 
of  condemnation. 

A  true  appreciation  of  the  Great  Lakes  as  a 
training  station  was  not  possible  until  after  a  man 
was  transferred  to  sea  or  other  training  stations. 
For  the  first  time  the  complaining  sailor  then  real- 
ized that  at  the  Great  Lakes  he  was  well  com- 
manded by  competent  officers  who  were  as  con- 
siderate of  him  as  they  could  be  under  the  cir- 
cumstances, that  he  was  well  trained  and  well 
cared  for.  There  would  be  few  ex-Great  Lakes 
men  who  would  not  say  one  was  properly  trained 
and  equipped  at  Great  Lakes  for  whatever  service 
he  was  called  upon  to  perform  in  the  war.  It  was 
an  experience  that  no  one  could  regret  and  that, 
in  most  instances,  better  equipped  the  man  for 
civilian  duties  when  his  service  was  over.  Most 
of  us  look  back  with  pleasure  to  the  life  and  train- 
ing at  Great  Lakes. 

— A  RATED  MAN  IN  RADIO  SERVICE 


142] 


RADIO  SCHOOL,  U.  S.  N.  TRAINING  STATION 
GREAT  LAKES 


NOTES  FROM  NON-RESIDENTS 


And  we'll  tak'  a  cup  6>  kindness  yet 
For  auld  lang  syne 


Section  7,  of  Article  I.,  of  the  By-laws  of  the  Mer- 
chants Club  provided  that  "Any  active  or  associate 
member  who  has  changed  his  residence  from  Chicago 
.  .  .  may  become  a  non-resident  member  .... 

Perhaps  one  lauds  more  loudly  the  persons  and 
things  of  far  away  and  long  ago  than  those  of 
today.  "Absence  makes  the  heart  grow  fonder." 
At  any  rate,  the  Committee  on  History  felt 
impelled  to  go  from  home  in  search  of  personal 
reminiscences  of  the  Merchants  Club  and  asked 
its  chairman  to  get  some  expressions  from  non- 
resident members.  The  appended  letters  from  a 
few  of  them,  from  their  widely  scattered  domiciles, 
show  the  pride  they  had  in  the  Club,  their  joy  in 
doing  its  service,  and  the  loving  memories  they 
still  hold  for  their  old  associates. 


Extracts. 


"I  have  a  mandate  from  the  Commercial  Club  to 
prepare  a  history  of  the  Merchants  Club,  1897-1907 
...  I  come  to  you  for  aid  .  .  .  Pray  write  me  what 
impressed  you  most  in  connection  with  the  Club  when 
you  were  living  in  Chicago." 


RICHARD  M.  BISSELL 
Hartford 


CHARLES  D.  NORTON 
New  York 


FROM  RICHARD  M.  BISSELL,  PRESIDENT  HARTFORD 

FIRE  INSURANCE  COMPANY,  TO  CHARLES  D. 

NORTON,  2  WALL  STREET,  NEW  YORK 

August  18,  1921. 
My  Dear  Charles: — 

I  agree  as  to  what  you  say  about  the  Merchants  Club. 
It  was  a  splendid  institution,  made  splendid  by  the 
devotion  and  somewhat  youthful  enthusiasm  of  its 
members,  and  it  was  unique  in  that  its  constitution 
contained  an  automatic  provision  for  constantly  re- 
newing the  youthfulness  of  its  members.  .  .  The 
contagious  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  and  enthusiasm  for 
the  public  good  not  only  was  extremely  useful  to  the 
city  of  Chicago,  but  did  wonders  for  the  members  of  the 
Club. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  eagerness,  the  earnestness 
and  satisfaction  with  which  we  worked  over  the  State 
Fawners'  Society,  the  problem  of  making  the  public 
schools  more  useful,  the  public  parks  and  playgrounds, 
the  Chicago  Plan,  and  various  other  activities .  Active 
membership  in  the  Merchants  Club  certainly  con- 
stituted a  liberal  education. 

You  may  recall  another  thing  we  did,  namely  to 
entirely  revamp  the  accounting  system  of  the  city,  and 
actually  to  make  money  for  Chicago  by  so  doing.  The 
first  meeting  at  which  I  presided  as  President  was  one 
to  which  the  entire  City  Council  was  invited,  and 
Haskins  &  Sells,  public  accountants,  made  a  report  on 
the  city's  accounting  methods  and  the  condition  of 
its  affairs  (after  the  long  investigation  which  they  had 
made  at  the  charges  of  the  Merchants  Club).  The 
meeting  was  to  convince  the  city  fathers  that  an  entire 

[145] 


new  system  should  be  introduced,  and  that  it  would 
be  highly  profitable  to  the  city  to  introduce  it.  After 
forcibly  presenting  the  conditions  which  existed  and 
the  proposed  remedies,  the  meeting  closed  with  a 
rattling  and  very  able  appeal  to  the  members  of  the 
Council  by  Edgar  Bancroft,  who  spoke  extemporan- 
eously. When  our  suggestions  were  adopted,  the 
accountants  succeeded  in  bringing  to  light  and  col- 
lecting enough  money  from  back  taxes,  which  the 
city  had  abandoned  as  hopeless,  to  more  than  pay 
for  the  investigations  and  for  the  adoption  of  the  new 
accounting  system,  and  leave  a  substantial  balance 
of  income  for  the  city  in  addition.  Furthermore, 
very  valuable  savings,  better  collections  of  taxes, 
and  stoppage  of  leaks  all  around  resulted.  A  by- 
product was  that  Walter  Wilson  was  appointed  City 
Comptroller,  .  .  . 

The  platform  on  which  the  Club  started  was  rather 
prosaic  and  materialistic  perhaps,  but  the  Club  grew 
in  ideas  and  ideals  as  it  worked,  and  the  ultimate  re- 
sult of  its  existence  as  reflected  in  the  changed  point  of 
view  and  lives  of  some  of  its  members  can  never  be 
accurately  appraised.  I  think  back  upon  the  earnest 
meetings  we  had  when  we  were  getting  up  the  Fawners' 
Society,  and  at  my  own  chagrin  because  I  could  not 
become  a  director  in  it,  having  been  appointed  on  a 
committee  to  prepare  the  constitution  and  by-laws 
and  to  select  the  board  of  directors;  and  then  when 
I  think  about  the  days  that  I  spent  making  a  survey 
of  the  housing  conditions  in  the  congested  districts 
of  the  city,  in  order  to  prepare  the  paper  delivered 
at  the  meeting  which  Jacob  Riis  addressed,  and  also 
the  work  which  led  up  to  the  appointment  of  the  Edu- 
cational Committee,  including  the  fine  meeting  where 
we  had  President  Harper  of  the  Chicago  University 
address  us,  surprising  the  Club  and  especially  Presi- 

[146] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

dent  Harper  by  the  singing  of  a  splendid  chorus  from 
one  of  the  schools  where  we  had  been  working,  I 
cannot  help  wishing  that  some  sufficient  record  may 
be  preserved. 

The  city  planning  scheme  was  largely  carried  into 
effect  after  I  left  Chicago. 

Sincerely  yours, 

RICHARD  M.  BISSELL 


[147] 


From  Connecticut  to  California — Across  the  Continent. 


WILLIAM  KENT 

Kentfield 


WILLIAM  KENT'S   CHEERFUL   YESTERDAYS  OF  THE 

MERCHANTS  CLUB  AND  CONFIDENT 

TOMORROWS 

Kentfield,  Marin  Co.,  California, 
January  19,  1922. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Glessner: — 

I  remember  the  Merchants  Club  with  peculiar  affec- 
tion. I  do  not  believe  there  was  ever  an  organization 
of  equal  size  made  up  of  equally  efficient  and  public- 
spirited  men. 

As  I  look  back  at  it,  we  all  felt  like  putting  in  the  best 
we  had  for  the  benefit  of  Chicago;  and  our  relation- 
ships, based  on  mutual  respect  and  unusual  intimacy, 
represented  one  of  the  highest  phases  of  living. 

I  recall  with  pride  the  work  which  led  to  the  Fawners 
Association — to  the  cleaning  up  of  the  city  bookkeeping 
— to  the  use  of  the  schools  for  neighborhood  centers — 
and  one  of  the  perennial  and  abortive  attempts  to 
clean  up  the  Chicago  police  force.  There  comes  to  my 
mind  the  closed  meetings,  so  filled  up  with  delight- 
ful personalities — the  give  and  take  of  good-natured 
raillery — especially  the  occasions  that  marked  the 
majority  of  John  G.  Shedd,  and  the  meeting  given  to 
"hobbies." 

It  was  a  great  and  lasting  benefit  to  Chicago  that 
such  a  company  of  men  should  associate  together  to  meet 
Chicago's  problems,  and  I  know  the  education  that 
came  from  the  associations. 

The  members  were  young  enough  not  to  be  petrified 
into  the  self-satisfaction  of  successful  old  age,  nor 
made  cynical  and  bitter  by  reversals  of  fortune.  It 
was  a  body  that  was  inherently  optimistic — that  felt 

[149] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

a  corporate  spirit  opposed  to  the  loathsome  query: 
"What's  the  use?" 

I  cannot  but  believe  that  the  spirit  engendered  has 
persisted  in  the  lives  of  the  members  and  in  an  attitude 
toward  society  that  has  kept  up  courage  and  usefulness 
in  the  endeavor  to  better  things  in  this  good,  though 
not  "best  of  all  possible  worlds." 

Yours  truly, 

WILLIAM  KENT 


150] 


FREDERIC  A.  DELANO 

Washington 


FROM  FREDERIC  A.  DELANO,  REGARDING  SOME  OF 

THE  ACTIVITIES  OF  THE  MERCHANTS 

CLUB  TWENTY  YEARS  AGO 

At  Washington,  February  7th,  1922. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Glessner: — 

I  duly  received  your  courteous  letter  of  January 
25th,  and  I  note  that  you  are  preparing  a  History  of 
the  Merchants  Club  for  the  ten-year  period  from  '97 
to  1907.  I  do  not  know  that  I  can  add  anything  to 
what  has  been  said  by  others, — particularly  on  the 
subject  of  the  "Chicago  Plan"  work,  in  which  I  was 
interested,  for  Mr.  Norton  has  sent  me  a  draft  of  his 
letter,  which  agrees  with  my  recollection  and  seems 
to  cover  the  case  pretty  fully. 

My  recollection  is  that  I  was  taken  into  the  Mer- 
chants Club  about  Christmas  time,  1902,  during  the 
administration  of  Alexander  McCormick.  Early  in  the 
administration  of  Walter  Wilson  he  sent  out  a  circular 
letter  asking  for  suggestions  of  topics  for  consideration. 
Having,  previous  to  that  time,  given  a  good  deal  of 
thought  to  the  matter  of  coordinating  the  railway 
terminals  of  the  City,  the  more  I  studied  the  subject 
the  more  I  realized  that  it  had  a  bearing  on  the  whole 
question  of  City  Planning.  I  talked  to  Norton  about  it 
and  found  that  he,  too,  had  been  interested  in  City 
Planning  on  account  of  his  relations  with  Mr.  St.  Gaudens 
and  Mr.  McKim,  at  that  time  both  members  of  the 
Washington  Commission  of  1901 .  It  then  happened  that 
in  the  Fall  of  1903,  I  should  say,  he  and  I  went  to 
Walter  Wilson's  office  and  suggested  that  a  good  topic 
for  discussion  and  consideration  would  be  the  plan  of 
Chicago, — or  at  least  the  railway  terminal  question, — 

[151] 


THE  MERCHANTS   CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

in  relation  to  the  City.  It  may  be  a  fact  that  I  gained 
inspiration  from  Mr.  Burnham's  discussion  of  his 
"Lake  Front  Park  Project,"  during  the  Winter  of 
1902  or  '03. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  Mr.  Wilson,  who  was  that  year  the 
President  of  the  Club,  decided  and  told  Norton  and 
me  that  he  was  afraid  the  subject  was  too  big  a  one  to 
tackle  and  that  the  time  was  not  quite  opportune,  so 
he  recommended  deferring  the  topic.  Nothing  more 
was  done  about  it  that  Fall  and  Winter;  but  my 
interest  in  the  subject  continued  and  I  decided  on  my 
"own  hook"  to  prepare  a  brochure  on  the  subject  of 
"The  Railway  Terminals  and  their  relation  to  the 
City  of  Chicago."  I  did  this  during  the  Spring  and 
Summer  of  1904  and  the  book,  which  was  printed  and 
published  in  September,  1904,  was  sent  to  every  mem- 
ber of  the  Merchants  and  Commercial  Clubs.  That 
book  contained  plans  and  sketches  prepared  in  Mr. 
Burnham's  office,  with  the  assistance  of  his  staff,  on 
which  I  indicated  the  proposed  location  of  the  terminals 
on  a  widened  12th  street,  with  certain  new  diagonals 
connecting  with  12th  street  at  Canal  street.  That 
same  year,  Alfred  Baker  was  elected  President,  Norton 
Secretary,  and  I  appointed  a  member  of  one  of  the 
Club's  committees.  The  subject  of  City  Planning  in 
general  and  in  connection  with  railway  terminals  was 
again  taken  up,  and  Mr.  Baker  and  the  Board  deter- 
mined to  present  it  if  we  could  get  Mr.  Burnham  to 
take  hold.  It  was  during  that  Summer  that  Norton 
and  I  called  upon  Mr.  Burnham  .  .  .  and  as  to  the 
rest  of  the  story  it  has  been  well  and  graphically  de- 
scribed by  Norton. 

I  agree  with  Norton  that  subsequent  events  have 
proved  that  it  would  have  been  better  for  the  Mer- 
chants Club  and  for  Chicago  if  the  Merchants  Club 
and  the  Commercial  Club  had  not  been  merged. 

[152] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

There  was  room  for  a  young  men's  organization, — 
an  organization  of  men  who  still  had  their  "spurs  to 
win, "  and  although  I  was  one  of  the  men  honored  by 
election  on  the  Commercial  Club,  as  I  look  back  at 
it  I  agree  that  it  would  have  been  better  for  men  so 
elected  and  accepting  that  election,  to  retire  from 
active  membership  in  the  Merchants  Club.  Indeed, 
even  now  might  it  not  be  better  to  revive  the  Mer- 
chants Club,  keeping  it  as  a  Club  of  men,  say,  not  over 
forty-five  but  who  are  doing  things?  Many  mem- 
bers have  demonstrated  that  magnificent  work  can 
be  done  by  men  who  are  well  beyond  fifty;  and  I  hope 
I  may  also  be  so  fortunate.  But  younger  men  work  in 
a  different  way,  and  they  can  work  better  if  they  are 
in  a  group  by  themselves  and  not  hampered  by  the 
more  conservative  but  effective  methods  of  their  elders. 
Thanking  you  sincerely  for  this  opportunity  and 
wishing  you  and  the  Club  every  success,  I  am 

Very  cordially  yours, 

FREDERIC  A.  DELANO 


[153] 


From  Washington  to  London — Across  the  Waters. 


As  THE  CARTOONIST  OF  THE  MANCHESTER  GUARDIAN  PORTRAYS 

AN  AMERICAN  MERCHANT  TRANSPORTED  TO  THE 

BRITISH  METROPOLIS 


H.  GORDON  SELFRIDGE  SENDS  A  MESSAGE  OF 
GOOD  WILL  FROM  OVER  SEAS 

London,  W.I.,  25th  January,  1922. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Glessner: — 

I  have  your  letter  of  January  10th,  and  its  query 
sends  my  mind  back  to  16  or  18  years  ago  when  the 
Merchants  Club  was  trying  to  do  its  share  in  giving 
to  Chicago  some  of  those  things  which  the  city  appeared 
to  need.  And  especially  does  it  take  me  back  to  the 
year  in  which  I  was  President  of  that  virile  Club, 
made  up  of  50  or  60  of  the  younger  business  men  of 
Chicago. 

The  chief  effort  made  by  the  Club's  committee  dur- 
ing the  year  of  my  presidency  was  directed  toward  the 
establishment  of  a  Municipal  Pawnshop  which  should 
assist  the  needy  people  of  Chicago  over  an  occasional 
bump  in  the  road  at  a  reasonable  cost  to  the  borrower. 

At  that  time  pawnbrokers  were  getting  anything 
from  10  percent  a  month  upwards,  and  when  our  pro- 
posal was  launched,  we  discovered  at  once  a  great 
opposition  on  the  part  of  these  pawnbrokers,  and 
furthermore  we  learned  that  in  Illinois  a  company  was 
not  permitted  to  loan  money  except  after  having  been 
given  such  authority  by  the  Legislature.  To  obtain  this 
privilege  was  difficult  because  of  the  strength  of  the 
pawnbrokers  in  Springfield,  but  every  member  of  the 
Merchants  Club  during  that  interesting  session  used 
his  efforts,  and  so  strong  was  the  demand,  that  the 
majority  favoured  our  bill  and  it  only  waited  the 
Governor's  signature. 

Governor  Tanner,  who  occupied  the  executive  chair 
at  that  moment,  appeared  disinclined  to  sign  the  bill, 

[155] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

but  the  Club  had  in  one  of  its  members,  our  dear  old 
friend  Graeme  Stewart,  a  man  who  knew  the  political 
game  about  as  well,  and  much  more  agreeably  than  did 
Governor  Tanner. 

Tanner,  waiting  to  be  approached  or  urged,  or  what 
not,  refrained  from  adding  his  signature,  until  finally 
Graeme  Stewart  and  I  went  to  Springfield,  and  after 
the  usual  amount  of  unpleasant,  but  apparently  neces- 
sary coaxing  and  urging — and  I  was  going  to  say 
threatening —  Governor  Tanner  at  last  put  his  name 
to  the  paper,  and  it  became  an  act  in  fact. 

The  next  effort  was  to  raise  sufficient  capital  to 
start  with,  and  this  was  done  without  much  difficulty, 
and  an  able  committee,  under  Mr.  John  V.  Farwell 
as  Chairman  or  President,  took  over  the  affairs  of  the 
Society  which,  up  to  the  time  that  I  left  Chicago,  was 
in  a  very  prosperous  condition,  and  I  have  no  doubt  it 
is  still  so,  although  I  am  not  informed  as  to  its  present 
position. 

This  Society,  under  careful  management,  must 
eventually  become  a  very  large  affair,  because  the  act 
under  which  it  is  established  limits  the  dividends  to 
6  per  cent  per  annum,  and  the  charges  which  it  is  per- 
mitted to  make  are,  as  I  remember,  1  per  cent  per 
month  for  the  loan  of  money,  and  ^  per  cent  per  month 
for  insurance. 

The  Municipal  Pawnshop,  or  First  State  Pawners 
Society  as  I  remember  the  name  is  now,  stands,  there- 
fore, to  the  credit  of  the  Merchants  Club  and  its  earnest 
members  and  workers  of,  perhaps,  20  years  ago. 

Another  interesting  evening  was  given  to  the  dis- 
cussion of  whether  or  not  the  City  should  have  an 
Exposition  Building — the  old  building  on  the  Lake 
front  having  become  entirely  out  of  date. 

A  dozen  or  twenty  gentlemen  had  been  asked  to 
express  their  opinions,  and  each  had  been  requested 

[156] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

to  limit  his  remarks  to  five  minutes.  We  had,  at  the 
Speaker's  table,  a  clock  electrically  prepared  so  that 
at  the  end  of  five  minutes  the  alarm  would  go  off  and 
interrupt  the  speaker.  It  was  an  interesting  occasion, 
and  while  the  Club  favoured  the  Exhibition  as  a  whole, 
it  was  found,  on  trying  to  work  it  out,  to  be  hardly  a 
workable  proposition. 

I  remember  well  the  very  important  place  which  these 
younger  men  took  in  Chicago  civic  affairs  as  well  as 
in  commercial  matters  in  those  days. 

The  young  men  not  only  were  keen  business  men 
who  had  brought  themselves  up  in  that  commerical 
school  in  which  experience  is  the  chief  teacher,  but 
they  were  as  well  tremendous  workers,  and  the  fact 
that  they  were  so  willing  to  work,  and  always  do  their 
share,  gave  them  prominent  positions  in  the  great 
community. 

One  thing  which  this  did,  which  is  not  often  done, 
was  that  it  united  these  men  in  bonds  of  friendship 
that  time  does  not  weaken,  and  which  will  last  as  long 
as  the  men  themselves  continue  to  live.  The  delightful 
feeling  of  camaraderie  which  did  prevail,  and  I  hope 
still  prevails  among  the  progressive,  active  workers  of 
Chicago's  great  business  community,  is,  I  believe, 
unique,  and  even  I,  who  have  been  absent  from  that 
city  .for  about  16  years,  find  myself  each  year  planning 
to  go  back  to  see  those  dear  old  friends.  My  trip  is  only 
given  to  the  joy  of  embracing  them,  talking  with  them 
for  a  little  while,  and  bidding  them  good-bye  for  another 
twelve  months. 

I  am  afraid,  dear  Mr.  Glessner,  that  my  letter  in 
response  to  yours  is  not  of  much  importance,  but  such 
as  it  is  please  receive  it  with  my  best  wishes. 

Yours  very  truly, 

H.  GORDON  SELFRIDGE 


[157] 


From  the  old  world  metropolis  to  the  new — Hands  across  the  Sea. 


EDWARD  D.  KENNA 

New  York 


MR.  E.  D.  KENNA'S  WORDS  OF  APPRECIATION 
FOR  THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB 

New  York,  January  27,  1922. 
Dear  Mr.  Glessner: — 

That  which  interested  me  most  at  the  time  of  my 
association  with  members  of  the  Merchants  Club,  and 
which  remains  as  a  delightful  recollection,  was  the 
unusual  quality  of  the  loyalty  of  the  members  to  the 
Club.  They  were  not  satisfied  with  doing  what  they 
could  for  the  Club,  individually,  but  sought  to  strength- 
en their  collective  efforts  by,  in  every  possible  way,  in- 
creasing the  influence  and  power  of  every  member.  This 
solidarity  was  doubtless  due  in  part  to  the  fact  that  we 
were  all  pretty  much  of  the  same  age,  and  in  sympathy 
with  each  other's  aims  and  ambitions,  but  chiefly, 
I  shall  always  believe,  it  was  because  my  associates 
were  unusual  men  for  any  age  or  place. 

With  regards,  I  am 

Sincerely  yours, 

E.  D.  KENNA 


[159 


From  Wall  Street  to  the  Lumber  District. 


NELSON  P.  BIGELOW 

Bigelow,  Arkansas 


NELSON  P.  BIGELOW'S  RECOLLECTIONS 
"WHEN  WE  WERE  LADS  THEGITHER" 

January  17th,  1922. 
Dear  Mr.  Glessner: — 

In  these  days  the  word  mandate  carries  great  weight 
and  I  bow  to  yours,  as  you  do  to  the  Commercial 
Club's. 

Why  may  I  not  follow  the  Tribune's  illustrious 
column  "In  the  Wake  of  the  News"  and  say,  Help! 
Help! 

Do  you  remember  way  back  in  the  good  old  days 
when  John  Farwell  was  the  first  presiding  officer  of  the 
Merchants  Club?  When  $1.50  was  the  assessment 
for  a  fine  beefsteak  dinner  at  the  Grand  Pacific,  and 
when  the  Club's  treasury  was  almost  put  out  of  busi- 
ness by  an  item  in  the  expense  account  of  one  of  the 
illustrious  and  handsomely  tailored  speakers  from 
Philadelphia, 

To  pressing  Trousers,     $10.00 

Do  you  remember  way  back  when  Alfred  Baker  was 
President,  i.e.,  after  he  was  a  lawyer  but  before  he 
gave  up  riding  to  the  hounds?  When  Walter  Wilson's 
voice  was  still  a  rumbling  basso?  When  he  was  for 
three  years  the  Club's  first  really  efficient  Secretary? 

Do  you  remember  way  back  when  Billy  Kent  and 
Alex  McCormick  were,  in  effect  if  not  in  fact,  the 
Village  Cut  Ups?  or  at  least  when  the  presiding  officer 
was  in  mortal  terror  of  them?  Can  you  not  remember 
this  without  special  effort?  or  Mr.  John  Shedd's  twenty- 
first  birthday  dinner  at  which  young  Alex  McCormick 
learned  for  the  first  time  how  dry  he  was? 

[161] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

Way  back  when  America  produced  the  greatest 
Swedish  orator  and  raconteur  in  Edgar  Bancroft? 

Do  you  remember  way  back  when  each  year  you 
were  given  the  opportunity  of  taking  more  stock  in 
the  thriving  First  State  Fawners  Society?  Do  you 
remember  all  the  weary  annual  meetings  when  the 
President  read  to  you  the  report  of  the  Society's 
financial  growth  and  the  results  of  its  auction  sales? 

These  questions,  dear  Mr.  Glessner,  when  answered 
truthfully  in  the  affirmative,  will  identify  the  pioneer 
men  of  the  Merchants  Club,  and  they  indicate  a  few  of 
the  high  spots  in  tlie  early  history  of  the  Club  that 
created  a  lasting  impression  upon  one  of  its  least  de- 
serving members. 

Faithfully  yours, 

N.  P.  BIGELOW 


[162] 


JAMES  GAMBLE  ROGERS 

New  York 


FROM  JAMES  GAMBLE  ROGERS  — 
THE  WILL  TO  DO 

New  York  City,  March  8,  1922. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Glessner: — 

I  think  I  can  answer  your  question  by  repeating 
what  I  have  often  said  to  others;  namely,  that  the 
best  club  I  ever  belonged  to  was  the  Merchants  Club 
of  Chicago,  because  of  the  quality  of  the  membership 
and  attitude  of  accomplishing,  without  any  talk  of 
up-lift  or  duty,  many  good  works  that  were  of  great 
benefit  to  the  community. 

It  was  more  their  attitude  of  doing  all  the  good  work 
they  could  without  any  boasting,  merely  because  it 
was  something  the  city  needed  and  they  wanted  to 
help  in  bringing  it  about. 

Yours  very  truly, 

JAS.  GAMBLE  ROGERS 


[163] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

FROM  JOHN  F.  HARRIS,  15  WALL  STREET, 
NEW  YORK 

Off  Palm  Beach,  Florida. 

March  29,  1922. 
Dear  Mr.  Glessner: — 

Your  letter  about  the  Merchants  Club  reaches  me 
here  .  .  .  Shortly  after  my  election  as  a  member, 
my  residence  was  changed  from  Chicago  to  New  York. 
...  I  have  always  been  impressed  with  the  earnest- 
ness of  those  who  spoke  at  the  meetings,  the  attention 
that  the  members  gave,  the  willingness  to  do  real  work; 
and  in  consequence  I  have  always  felt  that  the  Club 
was  a  factor  for  good  in  Chicago  life. 

It  is  a  great  privilege  and  honor  to  be  numbered 
among  its  members,  and  I  regret  exceedingly  that  my 
absence  from  Chicago  precludes  my  participation  in 
a  more  regular  way.  Very  sincerely  yours, 

JOHN  F.  HARRIS 


FROM  CHARLES  H.  HODGES,  DETROIT 

April  10,  1922. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Glessner: — 

Replying  to  the  letter  in  which  you  asked  for  an 
expression  of  what  particularly  impressed  me  in  con- 
nection with  the  Merchants  Club  during  my  sojourn 
in  Chicago:  I  think  this  was,  first,  the  public  spirit 
displayed  by  the  members  of  the  Club;  and,  second, 
this  spirit  specifically  translated  into  the  work  of 
starting  the  night  schools  of  Chicago.  Mr.  Granger 
Farwell,  as  I  recall  it,  was  chairman  of  the  committee 
and  I  believe  very  generously  contributed  to  the  fund 
necessary  to  carry  on  this  work.  I  am, 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

C.  H.  HODGES 

[164] 


JOHN  F.  HARRIS 
New  York 


CHARLES  H.  HODGES 
Detroit 


CHARLES  R.  CRANE 
Citizen  of  the  World 


JOHN  R.  MORRON 
New  York 


FRANK  B.  NOTES 
Washington 


MEMBERSHIP 


AT  the  time  of  the  union  of  the  Merchants 
xV  with  the  Commercial  Club,  in  February, 
1907,  the  former  had  88  members,  of  whom  58 
were  on  the  Active  list,  26  were  Associates,  and 
4  Non-resident.  Their  names,  business  connections 
and  the  year  of  admission  to  the  Club  member- 
ship, are  listed  in  the  following  pages. 


Active  Members 
1899  Arthur  T.  Aldis, 

Aldis  &  Co.,  Real  Estate 

1899  Frank  H.  Armstrong, 

Secretary,  Reid,  Murdoch  &  Company,  Grocers 

1899  Alfred  L.  Baker, 

Alfred  L.  Baker  &  Company,  Stocks,  Bonds  and  Grains 

1898  Edgar  A.  Bancroft, 

Scott,  Bancroft,  Martin  &  Stephens,  Lawyers 

1896  Nelson  P.  Bigelow, 

President,  Bigelow  Brothers  &  Walker  Co.,  Lumber 

1899  W.  Vernon  Booth, 

1315  Monadnock  Building,  A.  Booth  &  Co.,  Fish 

1902  Eugene  J.  Buffington, 

President,  Illinois  Steel  Co. 

1896  Benjamin  Carpenter, 

George  B.  Carpenter  &  Co.,  Ship  Chandlers 

1906  Clyde  M.  Carr, 

Vice-President,  Joseph  T.  Ryerson  &  Son,  Iron  and  Steel 

1904  Edward  F.  Carry, 

Vice-President  &  General  Manager,  Am.  Car  &  Foundry  Co. 

1901  William  E.  Clow, 

President,  James  B.  Clow  &  Sons,  Plumbers'  Supplies 

1896  Charles  R.  Corwith, 

Real  Estate 

1899  Alfred  Cowles, 

President,  Rial  to  Co.,  Capitalist 

1899  Rensselaer  W.  Cox, 

President,  Pioneer  Cooperage  Co. 

1902  Charles  R.  Crane, 

First  Vice-President,  Crane  Co. 

[167] 


1902  Charles  G.  Dawes, 

President,  Central  Trust  Company  of  Illinois 

1902  Frederic  A.  Delano, 

President,  Wabash  R.  R.  Co. 

1902  Thomas  E.  Donnelley, 

President,  R.  R.  Donnelley  &  Sons  Co.,  Printers 

1897  Albert  J.  Earling, 

President,  C.  M.  &  St.  P.  Railway 

1898  Bernard  A.  Eckhart, 

President,  B.  A.  Eckhart  Milling  Co. 

1902  Francis  C.  Farwell, 

Secretary,  John  V.  Farwell  &  Co.,  Dry  Goods 

1900  Granger  Farwell, 

President,  Farwell  Trust  Co. 

1899  Louis  A.  Ferguson, 

Vice-President,  Commonwealth  Edison  Co.  . 

1896  Edwin  G.  Foreman, 

President,  Foreman  Brothers  Banking  Co. 

1902  David  R.  Forgan, 

President,  National  City  Bank  of  Chicago 

1896  Frederick  Greeley, 

Treasurer,  Greeley-Howard  Co.,  Surveyors 

1902  John  F.  Harris, 

Harris,  Winthrop  &  Co.,  New  York,  Stocks,  Bonds,  etc. 

1897  Samuel  Insull, 

President,  Commonwealth  Edison  Co. 

1902  Edward  D.  Kenna, 

New  York,  Capitalist 

1896  William  Kent, 

Capitalist,  Kentfield,  Calif. 

1897  Hugh  J.  McBirney, 

Manager,  National  Lead  Co. 

1898  Harold  F.  McCormick, 

President,  International  Harvester  Co. 

1904  Medill  McCormick, 

Vice-President,  The  Chicago  Tribune 

[168] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 
1899  Hiram  R.  McCullough, 

Vice-President,  C.  &  N.  W.  Ry. 

1901  Clayton  Mark, 

Vice-President,  National  Malleable  Castings  Co. 

1896  Arthur  Meeker, 

Director  and  General  Manager,  Armour  &  Co.,  Packers 

1899  John  R.  Morron, 

President,  Peter  Cooper's  Glue  Factory 

1906  Mark  Morton, 

President,  Western  Cold  Storage  Co. 

1902  Charles  D.  Norton, 

Washington,  D.  C.,  Secretary  to  President  Taft 

1902  Frank  B.  Noyes, 

Editor  &  Publisher,  Chicago  Record-Herald 

1904  Joseph  E.  Otis, 

President,  Western  Trust  &  Savings  Bank 

1901  Allen  B.  Pond, 

Pond  &  Pond,  Architects 

1896  Alexander  H.  Revell, 

President,  Alexander  H.  Revell  &  Co.,  Furnishings 

1903  Theodore  W.  Robinson, 

First  Vice-President,  Illinois  Steel  Co. 

1905  John  W.  Scott, 

Carson,  Pirie,  Scott  &  Co.,  Dry  Goods 

1896  Louis  A.  Seeberger, 

Louis  A.  Seeberger  &  Co.,  Real  Estate 

1904  Walter  B.  Smith, 

John  H.  Wrenn  &  Co.,  Bankers  and  Brokers 

1903  Albert  A.  Sprague  II, 

Sprague,  Warner  &  Co.,  Grocers 

1906  Homer  A.  Stillwell, 

Vice-President,  Butler  Brothers,  General  Merchandise 

1900  Bernard  E.  Sunny, 

President,  Chicago  Telephone  Company 

1906  Edward  F.  Swift, 

Vice-President,  Swift  &  Company,  Packers 

[169] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 
1902  Charles  H.  Thorne, 

Treasurer,  Montgomery  Ward  &  Co.,  General  Merchandise 

1897  Emerson  B.  Tuttle, 

Real  Estate 

1899  Frederic  W.  Upham, 

President,  City  Fuel  Co. 

1897  Charles  H.  Wacker, 

Real  Estate 

1896  Walter  H.  Wilson, 

Walter  H.  Wilson  &  Co.,  Real  Estate 

1904  Arthur  D.  Wheeler, 

Holt,  Wheeler  &  Sidley,  Lawyers 

1905  John  E.  Wilder, 

Wilder  &  Co.,  Leather 


[170] 


THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

Associate  Members 
1896  Charles  L.  Bartlett, 

President,  Orangeine  Chemical  Co. 

1898  Joseph  T.  Bowen, 

Vice-President,  Metropolitan  Surety  Co. 

1896  Clarence  Buckingham, 

John  H.  Wrenn  &  Co.,  Bankers  and  Brokers 

1896  Edward  B.  Butler, 

President,  Butler  Brothers,  General  Merchandise 

1897  Leslie  Carter, 

Chairman,  South  Side  Elevated  Ry.  Co. 

1901  Charles  H.  Conover, 

Vice-President,  Hibbard,  Spencer,  Bartlett  &  Co.,  Hardware 

1904  J.  J.  Dau, 

Vice-President,  Reid,  Murdoch  &  Co.,  Grocers 

1898  James  H.  Eckels, 

President,  Commercial  National  Bank 

1896  John  V.  Farwell, 

President,  John  V.  Farwell  Co.,  Dry  Goods 

1904  James  T.  Harahan, 

President,  Illinois  Central  R.  R.  Co. 

1897  Ernest  A.  Hamill, 

President,  Corn  Exchange  National  Bank 

1901  Frank  H.  Jones, 

Secretary,  American  Trust  &  Savings  Bank 

1896  Rollin  A.  Keyes, 

President,  Franklin  MacVeagh  &  Co.,  Grocers 

1896  C.  Frederick  Kimball, 

President,  C.  P.  Kimball  &  Co.,  Carriages 

1897  Herman  H.  Kohlsaat, 

Record-Herald  Building,  Publisher 

1897  Alexander  A.  McCormick, 

Indianapolis  Star,  Publisher 

1899  Robert  Mather, 

President,  C.  &  R.  I.  R.  R.  Co. 

[171] 


1901  George  Merryweather, 

President,  Railway  Exchange  Bank 

1896  John  J.  Mitchell, 

President,  Illinois  Trust  &  Savings  Bank 

1903  Paul  Morton, 

President,  Equitable  Life  Insurance  Co.,  New  York 

1901  La  Verne  W.  Noyes, 

President,  Aermotor  Co. 

1902  Edwin  A.  Potter, 

President,  American  Trust  &  Savings  Bank 

1897  John  G.  Shedd, 

President,  Marshall  Field  &  Company,  Dry  Goods 

1896  Byron  L.  Smith, 

President,  The  Northern  Trust  Co. 

1896  Charles  L.  Strobel, 

President,  Strobel  Steel  Construction  Co. 

1904  Edward  A.  Turner, 

President,  Ewart  Manufacturing  Co. 


[172] 


THE   MERCHANTS  CLUB  OF  CHICAGO 

Non-Resident   Members 
1896  Richard  M.  Bissell, 

President,  Hartford  Fire  Insurance  Co.,  Hartford 

1898  Charles  H.  Hodges, 

Detroit  Lubricating  Co.,  Detroit 

1899  James  Gamble  Rogers, 

Architect,  New  York 

1896  Harry  Gordon  Self  ridge, 

Selfridge  &  Co.,  Ltd.,  London,  Dry  Goods 


To  the  list  of  Non  Resident  Members  several  names  have 
been  added  since  February,  1907 — transferred  from  other 
lists. 

Nelson  P.  Bigelow 

Bigelow,  Ark. 

Charles  R.  Crane 

New  York  City 

Frederic  A.  Delano 

Washington,  D.  C. 

John  F.  Harris 

New  York  City 

Edward  D.  Kenna 

New  York  City 

William  Kent 

Kentfield,  Calif. 

John  R.  Morron 

New  York  City 

Charles  D.  Norton 

New  York  City 

Frank  B.  Noyes 

Washington,  D.  C. 


[173 


NECROLOGY 


"In  Their  Tombs  Lie  Our  Affections" 

THE  necrology  of  the  Merchants  Club  in  the  ten 
years  of  its  busy  life  was  small  in  numbers  but 
rich  in  quality.  No  obituaries  nor  appreciations 
are  attempted  here.  George  Walker  Meeker  in 
April,  1899,  Dunlap  Smith  in  December,  1901, 
Hermon  Butler  in  February,  1904,  Graeme  Stewart 
in  June  and  Rockwell  King  in  July,  1905,  and 
William  R.  Harper  in  January,  1906 — merely  to 
catalogue  the  names  of  these  men  is  enough  to 
recall  their  value  and  to  show  the  Club's  grievous 
loss.  The  memory  of  what  they  did  abides.  It 
is  trite  to  say  that  they  had  done  their  work. 
How  much  more  might  not  they  have  done  had 
they  been  spared! 

George  Walker  Meeker,  aged  42  years,  April,  1899 
Dunlap  Smith,  "    38     December,  1901 

Hermon  B.  Butler,  "    49      February,  1904 

Graeme  Stewart,  52  June,  1905 

Rockwell  King,  "    52  July,  1905 

William  R.  Harper,  48        January,  1906 


IN  the  fifteen  years  since  its  union  with  the  Com- 
mercial Club  of  Chicago,  February  9,  1907, 
until  now,  February  9, 1922,  eighteen  of  the  former 
Merchants  Club  members  have  passed  from  earth, 
"A  common  night  awaiteth  every  man,  and 
Death's  path  must  be  trodden  once  by  all." 


Leslie  Carter,  at  age  of  57 

C.  Frederick  Kimball,  55 

Charles  L.  Bartlett,  56 

Paul  Morton,  54 

Joseph  Tilton  Bowen,  57 

Robert  Mather,  52 

Frederick  Greeley,  56 

James  T.  Harahan,  69 

Arthur  D.  Wheeler,  51 

Clarence  Buckingham,  59 

Byron  L.  Smith,  61 

Edwin  G.  Foreman,  53 

Charles  H.  Conover,  68 

Charles  R.  Corwith,  55 

Edward  A.  Turner,  68 

Granger  Farwell,  62 

La  Verne  W.  Noyes,  70 

Frank  H.  Armstrong,  67 


September,  1908 

January,  1909 

March,  1909 

January,  1911 

March,  1911 

October,  1911 

January,  1912 

January,  1912 

August,  1912 

August,  1913 

March,  1914 

August,  1915 

November,  1915 

December,  1915 

June,  1917 

May,  1919 

July,  1919 

February,  1920 


[177 


THE  COMMERCIAL  CLUB 

THE  COMMERCIAL  CLUB  organized  1877 

THE  MERCHANTS  CLUB,  organized  1896 

United  1907 


II 


Note— 

While  this  is  in  no  way  a  history  of  the 
Commercial  Club  of  Chicago,  it  may  not  be  amiss 
to  speak  a  few  words  of  it  here.  This  Club 
was  founded  in  December  1877,  and  therefore  was 
nineteen  years  old  at  the  formation  of  the  Mer- 
chants Club,  and  now  has  had  continuous  exist- 
ence for  more  than  forty-four  years.  It  had  its 
inspiration  and  model  in  the  Commercial  Club 
of  Boston,  founded  in  1869,  and  was  followed  in 
its  turn  and  taken  as  a  model  by  similar  clubs  of 
Cincinnati  in  July,  1880,  and  of  St.  Louis  in  Febru- 
ary, 1881.  Toward  the  older  club  of  Boston  and 
the  younger  of  Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis  there  has 
existed  always  in  this  club  a  spirit,  not  of  rivalry, 
but  of  generous  emulation. 

The  Commercial  Club  has  cherished  high  ideals. 
This  is  not  the  place  to  record  its  efforts  or  ap- 
praise its  value  to  the  community.  These  efforts 
were  not  for  material  advantage  alone:  they  were 
for  spiritual  welfare  also.  Its  founders  and  charter 
members  all  are  dead.  It  is  for  us  to  show  that 
the  spirit  that  animated  them  lives  still  in  their 
successors,  and  that  that  spirit  shall  make  the 
Commercial  Club  of  Chicago  potent  for  good 
works  for  many  years  to  come. 

February  9,  1922 

[181] 


APPENDIX 


To  THE  READER:  IN  CONFIDENCE: 

This  appendix  is  a  copy  of  a  Merchants  Club  pamphlet 
of  1900,  not  quite  in  facsimile.  The  original  had  gray 
paper  covers  with  red  title,  was  handsomely  printed;  but 
the  size  of  page,  style  of  type  and  quality  of  paper  do  not 
make  for  exact  reproduction  in  this  book. 

The  author  is  at  present  unknown.  Some  good  guessers 
have  said  A,  others  B  or  E,  F,  H  or  J;  but  those  who  have 
been  charged  with  it  deny  or  are  evasive.  Reader,  it  is  up 
to  you.  One  man's  guess  is  as  good  as  another's  until  it 
has  been  proved  right  or  wrong. 

And  finally,  brethren — about  the  Appendix — this  sugges- 
tion: Many  a  man  has  had  his  removed  when  he  ceased 
to  care  for  it. 


G 'he  Merchant*9  Club 
of  Chicago 


THE  MERCHANTS'  CLUB 
OF  CHICAGO 


EXCURSION  ON  CHICAGO  RIVER 
AND  SANITARY  CANAL 

TUESDAY,  JUNE  19,  1900 


HERMON  B.  BUTLER,  PRESIDENT 
GRAEME  STEWART,  VICE-PRESIDENT 
HUGH  J.  McBIRNEY,  SECRETARY 
EDWARD  G.  FOREMAN,  TREASURER 


EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE 

RICHARD  M.  BISSELL  ALBERT  J.  EARLING 

ALEX.  A.  McCORMICK  EDGAR  A.  BANCROFT 


RECEPTION  COMMITTEE 

ROLLIN  A.  KEYES  BENJAMIN  CARPENTER 

CHARLES  L.  BARTLETT  FREDERICK  GREELEY 

CHARLES  L.  STROBEL 


INTRODUCTORY  AND  SALUTATORY. 

The  Merchants'  Club,  having  completed  its  explora- 
tions of  the  Waldorf-Astoria  region,  the  Bois  de  Boulogne, 
and  the  Auditorium,  have  determined  to  make  discoveries 
in  the  hitherto  unexplored  portions  of  the  continent 
adjacent  to  Chicago. 

And  with  this  end  in  view  have  invited  their  wives 
and  other  best  girls  to  share  with  them  the  perils  and 
hardships  of  a  trip  through  the  waters  of  the  South 
Branch  and  the  Sanitary  Canal  to  the  end  that  these 
portions  may  be  opened  up  for  settlement  by  people 
in  the  best  society.  And  in  pursuance  thereof  they 
offer  their  wives,  their  fortunes  and  their  sacred  honor. 


[189] 


ACTIVE  MEMBERS. 


ALOIS,  ARTHUR  T. 

ARMSTRONG,  F.  H. 

BAKER,  ALFRED  L. 

BANCROFT,  EDGAR  A. 
*BARTLETT,  CHARLES  L. 

BARRATT,  EDGAR  G. 
*BIGELOW,  NELSON  P. 
*BISSELL,  RICHARD  M. 

BOOTH,  W.  VERNON. 

BOWEN,  JOSEPH  T. 
*BUCKINGHAM,  CLARENCE. 
*BUTLER,  EDWARD  B. 
*BUTLER,  HERMON  B. 
*CARPENTER,  BENJAMIN. 

CARTER,  LESLIE. 
*COOLIDGE,  CHARLES  A. 
*CORWITH,  CHARLES  R. 

COWLES,  ALFRED. 

COX,  RENSSELAER  W. 

DRAKE,  TRACY  C. 

EARLING,  A.  J. 

ECKLES,  JAMES  H. 

ECKHART,  BERNARD  A. 
*EWEN,  JOHN  M. 

FARWELL,  GRANGER. 
*FARWELL,  JOHN  V.,  JR. 

FERGUSON,  L.  A. 
*FOREMAN,  E.  G. 

GARTZ,  A.  F. 
*GREELEY,  FREDERICK. 


HAMILL,  ERNEST. 

HARPER,  WILLIAM  R. 

HODGES,  CHARLES  H. 

INSULL,  SAMUEL. 
*KENT,  WILLIAM. 
*KEYE8,  ROLLIN  A. 
*KIMBALL,  C.  FREDERICK. 

KING,  ROCKWELL. 
*KNOTT,  HENRY  A. 

MC  BIRNEY,  HUGH  J. 

MC  CORMICK,  ALEXANDER 
A. 

MC  CORMICK,  HAROLD  F. 

MC  CULLOUGH,  HIRAM  R. 

MATHER,  ROBERT. 
*MEEKER,  ARTHUR. 

MORRON,  JOHN  R. 
*REVELL,  ALEXANDER  H. 

ROGERS,  JAS.  GAMBLE. 
*8EEBERGER,  LOUIS  A. 
*SELFRIDGE,  HARRY  G. 

SHEDD,  JOHN  G. 
*8MITH,  DUNLAP. 
*STEWART,  GRAEME. 

SUNNY,  B.  E. 
*8TROBEL,  C.  L. 

TUTTLE,  EMERSON  B. 

UPHAM,  FRED  W. 

WACKER,  CHARLES  H. 
*WIL8ON,  WALTER  H. 


ASSOCIATE  MEMBERS. 


KOHLSAAT,  H.  H. 
*MITCHELL,  JOHN  J. 


*8MITH,  BYRON  L. 


*CHARTER  MEMBER. 


HISTORICAL  AND  STATISTICAL. 

The  Chicago  River,  which  has  just  been  discovered 
by  the  Merchants'  Club,  is  one  of  the  great  watercourses 
of  the  world,  uniting  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  oceans 
and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  dividing  the  North,  South 
and  West  sides,  which  are  the  three  parts  into  which  all 
Gall  is  divided. 

The  waters  of  the  Chicago  River  have  long  been 
celebrated  for  their  health-giving  properties,  as  is  shown 
by  the  well-known  saying  of  the  Indian  Medicine  Man: 
"Drink  one  drink  anything."  The  exuberant  growth 
of  its  microbes  has  never  been  questioned  even  by  the 
oldest  inhabitant.  It  has  been  a  matter  of  scientific 
interest  as  to  which  had  the  greater  longevity,  the  oldest 
inhabitant  or  the  microbe.  The  people  of  the  various 
tribes  inhabiting  its  banks  are  extremely  rugged  and 
warlike,  and  unite  in  the  belief  that  one  who  takes  Chicago 
River  microbes  needs  no  other  food. 

Analyses  of  the  water  made  before  and  after  the 
opening  of  the  Sanitary  District  channel  show  the  fol- 
lowing component  parts  to  the  cubic  centimeter. 

BEFORE. 

"That  tired  feeling"  microbe 127493658 

Free  silver  germs 339067724 

Mud Lots 

H2O  pure A  trace 

Things  in  dreams Good  and  plenty 


[191] 


AFTER. 

Bacilli,  microbes,  germs  and  such 00000003 

Complaints 0000000 

Nice  fish Several 

Ozone No  end 

Liquid  air  and  condensed  wind 7738590 

Suckers Numerous 

The  water  is  now  of  an  excellent  quality  when  used 
as  scenery  or  for  aquatic  sports,  or  as  a  commercial 
highway,  but  for  internal  use  should  be  taken  sparingly, 
and  copiously  diluted  with  whisky,  carbolic  acid,  orange- 
ine,  or  some  other  antiseptic  preservative.  It  is  said  to 
make  an  excellent  foundation  for  cocktails,  highballs  and 
other  gentle  stimulants. 

It  is  stated  on  good  authority  that  a  coal-heaver 
recently  fell  into  the  stream  in  the  vicinity  of  Lumber 
Street,  and  emerged  perceptibly  whiter,  so  much  so  that 
he  was  not  recognized  by  the  family  dog  upon  his  return 
home,  and  in  consequence  had  a  valuable  pair  of  blue 
jeans  overalls  severely  injured  in  the  region  of  the  epi- 
gastrium. 


[192] 


ITINERARY. 

Starting  from  the  picturesque  dock  of  the  Anchor 
Line  Transportation  Co.,  which  is  so  ably  managed  by 
the  distinguished  poloist  Mr.  James  Gary  Evans,  we  see 
upon  the  other  bank  the  magnificent  ruins  of  the  Geo. 
B.  Carpenter  cordage  and  twine  emporium,  which  also 
sells  a  very  fine  line  of  summer  awnings.  The  awnings 
on  this  boat,  had  there  been  any,  would  have  been  supplied 
by  Geo.  B.  Carpenter  &  Co.  (Adv.) 

On  the  Rive  Gauche,  autre  cote,  stands  the  fruit 
and  peanut  warehouse  of  Michael  Angelo  Piazzaforte, 
who  is  justly  celebrated  for  his  love  of  Dante  and  the 
sterling  quality  of  his  bananas.  (Adv.) 

Both  of  these  houses  should  be  visited  before  em- 
barking. 

We  make  our  course  E.  by  N.  J^  N.,  proceeding 
cautiously  over  the  La  Salle  Street  tunnel  and  passing 
directly  under  Wells  Street  bridge,  over  which  thou- 
sands of  hurrying  golfers  pass  on  then*  way  to  the  C.  & 
N.  W.  Ry.  depot,  the  great  Putting  Green  line.  (Adv.)  It 
has  been  estimated  that  if  all  the  golfers  patronizing 
this  fine  line  of  choo  choo  cars  were  placed  end  to  end 
they  would  form  a  chain  reaching  from  the  corner  of 
Kinzie  Street  to  the  planet  Mars. 

A  few  knots  beyond  Wells  Street  bridge  and  on 
the  star-boarder  tack,  is  the  limpid  and  purling  North 
Branch,  which  limps  and  purls  before  the  North  Side 

7 


193] 


swine  ever  thought  of  limping  or  purling,  having  its  rise 
in  the  fertile  meadows  of  the  Skokie  and  Onwentsia  Golf 
Links. 

We  now  alter  our  course  to  Sou'  West  by  Sou'  half 
Sou'  and  under  reefed  t'  gallant  s'ls  and  a  bight  in  the 
binnacle  we  "shake  a  day  day"  to  Wells  Street  bridge, 
and  sail  boldly  forth  down  (or  up  as  it  used  to  be)  the 
waters  of  the  South  Branch. 

There  are  many  charming  and  picturesque  bits  of 
scenery  and  places  of  historical  interest  that  invite  our 
attention,  but  our  craft  is  engaged  by  the  hour  and 
we  must  not  linger. 

One  of  the  most  charming  and  romantic  spots  along 
the  entire  stream  is  the  retired  and  bosky  dell  occupied 
by  the  attractive  little  home  of  J.  V.  Farwell  &  Co.  (Adv.) 
This  is  a  favorite  resort  for  picnics  and  fete  champeets 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  first  ward,  many  of  whom  may 
be  seen  enjoying  the  bright  sunshine  as  they  sit  on  the 
grassy  banks  playing  national  airs  and  arranging  primar- 
ies. It  was  here  that  J.  V.  Farwell  concluded  the  cele- 
brated treaty  with  the  Pottawattamie  tribe  of  Indians 
which  resulted  in  Mr.  FarwelPs  acquiring  Cook  County, 
the  consideration  being  a  pair  of  boots  which  the  vendor 
had  found  did  not  fit  him. 

Mr.  Farwell's  life  was  saved  upon  this  occasion  by 
an  Indian  maiden  of  great  piety  and  fine  appearance 
who  threw  herself  upon  the  flames  as  they  were  greed- 
ily about  to  encircle  Mr.  Farwell's  limbs,  thus  causing 
the  cruel  and  haughty  chiefs  to  quit  fueling  and  sign 
the  treaty  by  which  Mr.  Farwell  afterward  became  a 
rich  and  prominent  citizen. 

Mr.  Farwell  later  married  a  Presbyterian  lady  of 
8 


[194] 


rare  social  qualities,  and  their  son,  Mr.  J.  V.  Farwell, 
Jr.,  was  the  first  president  of  the  Merchants'  Club, 
and  one  of  the  first  white  children  born  in  Cook  County. 

We  now  pass  in  rapid  succession  the  far-famed  Van 
Buren  Street  rapids,  Eckhart's  whirlpool  and  the  Sanitary 
By-Pass,  the  Cattegat  and  Skagerack  of  the  Chicago 
River.  These  points,  as  well  as  the  Grand  Canon  of  the 
nineteenth  ward,  must  be  believed  in  to  be  seen. 

Luncheon  may  be  partaken  of  while  passing  the 
Bad  Lands  of  the  West  Side.  It  is  well  to  keep  under 
cover  while  passing  this  sterile  and  unproductive  region, 
as  the  inhabitants  are  extremely  voracious  and  loquacious, 
their  only  means  of  support  being  politics. 

Before  lunching  heartily,  it  is  well  to  take  a  dose  of 
Orangeine  (adv.),  the  great  preventive  of  sea-sickness, 
heresy,  and  schism,  and  all  uncharitableness.  While 
we  are  lunching,  the  Man  at  the  Wheel  gets  in  his  work, 
and  under  forced  and  protested  drafts,  with  all  sail 
set  and  a  nigger  on  the  safety-valve,  we  spin  merrily 
along  through  the  South  Branch,  Healy's  Slough,  Canal- 
port,  the  Sanitary  Canal,  Romeo,  Lockport,  Juliet,  the 
Bear  Trap  Dam,  the  Illinois  River,  Hennepin  Canal, 
Mississippi  River,  North  and  South  America,  the  Paris 
Exposition,  and  other  attractions  too  numerous  to 
mention. 

Marco  Polo,  Marquette,  Hobart  Chatfield  Chatfield- 
Taylor  (adv.),  and  other  explorers  have  stated  that  for 
all-around  grandeur  and  general  picturesqueness  there 
are  few  places  in  the  West  Side  to  equal  the  banks  of 
the  Sanitary  Canal,  where  in  most  places  nothing  inter- 
feres with  the  view  for  miles  and  miles  except  blades  of 
grass  and  saloons. 

9 


[195] 


The  inhabitants  of  this  delightful  region  were  formerly 
a  nomadic  and  pastoral  race,  raising  stocks  and  bonds. 
Since  the  opening  of  the  Sanitary  Canal  they  have  become 
quite  maritime  in  character,  subsisting  upon  hard  tack, 
terrapin,  and  oysters,  and  dancing  sailor's  hornpipes. 

We  return  to  civilization  by  the  Santa  Fe"  route. 
(Adv.)  This  world-famous  line  is  justly  celebrated  for 
its  magnificent  service  and  appointments — hot  and  cold 
water  and  steam  heat  in  every  car,  while  every  train  has 
a  bishop  and  a  professional  golfer  with  portable  tees  and 
putting  greens  in  attendance. 


10 


[196] 


ENVOI. 

Herminius  of  the  Lake  Shore  Drive, 

By  the  nine  gods  he  swore 

That  the  members  of  the  Merchants'  Club 

Should  loaf  around  no  more. 

By  the  nine  gods  he  swore  it, 

And  named  a  trysting-day 

And  bade  his  messengers  ride  forth, 

East  and  West  and  South  and  North 

To  summon  his  array. 

East  and  West  and  South  and  North 
The  district  messengers  ride  forth, 
Each  on  a  trolley  car. 
And  Astor  Street  and  Cottage  Grove 
Van  Buren  Street  and  Tyler's  Cove, 
And  eke  where  golfers  forth  do  rove 
In  sweet  Onwentsia. 

They  summon  forth  the  lordly  clan 
Of  princely  merchants  to  a  man, 
And  each  responds  as  best  he  can, 
And  brings  his  gentle  dame. 
Then  Rollin  from  his  grocer  store, 
And  Dunlap  of  the  sweet  North  Shore, 
Who  missed  his  ball  and  cursed  and  swore, 
But  ne'er  got  on  his  game. 
11 


[197] 


Then  Aldis  of  the  golden  beard, 

And  Barratt,  Edgar  G., 

And  Buckingham,  who  never  queered 

The  biggest  deal  that  e'er  was  steered, 

And  Eckels,  in  Peoria  reared, 

A  banker  for  to  be, 

With  Vernon  Booth,  the  oyster-man, 

And  Harper,  who  strikes  oil  in  can 

From  Rockefeller's  veins. 

And  Bancroft  of  the  silver  tongue, 

And  many  others  still  unsung, 

Came  from  their  vine-clad  fanes. 

When  Hermon  came  with  all  this  crew 

To  Wells  Street  Bridge  a  whistle  blew, 

It  pierced  their  poor  heads  through  and  through, 

So  loud  and  shrill  it  rang. 

The  bridge  it  slowly  swung  and  turned, 

The  keeper  all  their  offers  spurned. 

Meanwhile  the  great  propeller  churned 

The  water  thick  and  slab. 

Then  out  spake  Hermon  Butler, 

'  'Alas !  alackaday ! 

Now  who  will  stand  on  either  hand 

And  shut  this  right  away?" 

Then  up  spake  Graeme  Stewart, 

A  grocer  bold  was  he, 

'  'I  cannot  fight,  I  would  I  might, 

I  never  was  to  sea." 

Then  forth  came  Samuel  Insull, 
Of  Edisonian  fame, 

12 


[198] 


And  with  him  Harry  Selfridge, 
Who  bears  up  Field's  great  name, 
And  these  with  Leslie  Carter 
Went  forth  to  join  the  fray, 
When  a  dreadful  shout 
From  all  the  rout 

Turned  these  puissant  knights  about 
With  not  a  word  to  say. 

Oh  Farwell,  Granger  Farwell, 

To  whom  Lake  Forest  prays, 

Where  Farwells  rule  both  church  and  school, 

And  no  one  but  a  perfect  fool 

Their  sovereignty  gainsays; 

Now  gird  thee  on  thy  brassie 

And  buckle  on  thy  helm, 

A  golfer's  name,  a  golfer's  fame, 

Are  in  thy  keep  to-day. 

Then  out  spake  Shedd,  the  ribbon  man, 

WTiom  every  one  would  be, 

And  waved  his  hand  with  manner  bland 

And  said,  "  I  think  it  would  be  grand 

To  keep  the  bridge  with  thee." 

But  oh,  alas !  a  ribbon  man 

Whom  every  one  would  be, 

Must  tend  to  biz 

Where'er  he  is 

And  may  not  have  a  spree. 

But  Joseph  Tilton  Bowen, 
The  finest  of  the  knights, 
13 


[199] 


Allowed  that  he  would  raise  a  crowd 
And  fight,  if  he  could  be  allowed 
To  dress  himself  in  tights. 
So  each  one  was  invited, 
And  every  one  declined, 
And  even  Herm  began  to  squirm 
And  turned  as  does  the  humble  worm, 
Vowing  he'd  changed  his  mind. 

But  see!  the  bridge  is  turning, 

The  steamer  passes  through, 

While  every  man  is  yearning 

Some  doughty  deed  to  do. 

And  so  the  fight  is  finished 

Before  it  has  begun, 

And  the  Wise  Men's  Club  sails  in  its  tub 

Until  the  set  of  sun. 


14 


200] 


RULES. 

1.  Do  not  speak  to  the  man  at  the  wheel;  he  is  not 
engaged  for  his  conversational  abilities. 

2.  Speak  freely  to  all  members  of  the  Merchants' 
Club;  they  are  all  conversationalists  of  a  high  order. 

3.  All    timbers    shivered   by    nautical    persons,   or 
readers  of  Fenimore  Cooper  must  be  replaced. 

4.  Beware  of  pickpockets,  thunderstorms,  and  demo- 
crats; do  not  lend  toothbrushes  to  strangers. 

5.  All  persons  having  dutiable  articles  or  personal 
effects,  or  other  goods   or  chattels  subject  to  taxation 
under  Section  37,  Article  4936,  of  the  Revised  Statutes, 
shall,  almost  immediately  if  not  sooner,  prepare  schedules, 
under  oath,  stating  and  setting  forth  accordingly:  a, 
their  age,  sex,  and  previous  condition  of  impecuniosity; 
b,  their  position  in  society;   c,  the  number  of  strokes  for 
eighteen  holes;    d,   any  other  information  requisite  or 
necessary   for   the   enlightenment   or   entertainment   of 
the  Board  of  Local  Improvements,  the  Board  of  Review, 
or  any  other  board  whatever,  be  the  same  more  or  less; 
and  it  is  further  stipulated  and  agreed,  by  and  between 
the  said  party  of  the  first  part,  and  his  heirs  and  assigns 
forever,  that  failure  to  comply  with  the  provisions  of  the 
statute  as  hereinabove  provided  shall  in  no  case  release 
the  trustee  or  trustor  from  the  penalties  as  aforesaid,  to 
wit,  one  stroke  per  hole,  then   shall  the   party  of  the 
second  part  drop  a  new  ball,  losing  stroke  and  distance. 

15 


201] 


6.  Persons  subject  to  mal  de  mer,  megrims,  foozling, 
insomnia,  or  somnambulism  will  find  the  Orangeine 
bunkers  in  the  hold.  One  drop  placed  upon  the  tongue 
of  a  dog  will  kill  a  man. 


16 


[202] 


PRINTED  BY  R.  R.  DONNELLEY 
AND  SONS  COMPANY  AT  THE 
LAKESIDE  PRESS,  CHICAGO,  ILL. 


THE  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

Santa  Barbara 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW. 


O:1  RECEIPT 


MAR7   198822 


Si-ri.-s  9482 


000  720  945     5 


3  1205  00831  6844 


'S\J*J^<~K-J*~J*~-*«AL         1 


